Terex Corp. posted $1,260.9 million in net sales for the first quarter of 2018 compared to $1,006.9 million for the first quarter of 2017, a 25.2-percent increase. The AWP segment, primarily Genie equipment, recorded net sales of $638.9 million compared to $472.4 million in last year’s first quarter, a 35.2- percent hike, driven by growth in North America and Western Europe. The business entered the second quarter with a backlog of $891 million, up $266 million or 43 percent year over year.
The Cranes segment also performed well with net sales of $314 million compared to $263.9 million for the year-ago quarter, a 19-percent increase. Also, the Materials-Processing segment posted net sales of $303.3 million compared to $249.1 million a year ago, a 21.8-percent hike.
“Overall we had a strong start to the year,” said John Garrison, Terex president and CEO. “Our backlog is up significantly in every segment and our global markets are improving. We will continue to execute our Transformation program by simplifying the company and building capabilities designed to enable us to serve our customers better and faster than the competition.
“Terex significantly improved its first quarter earnings per share compared to last year. This strong financial performance reflects the improvements made to our operations and capital structure, and broad-based improvements in our global markets. Aerial Work Platforms and Materials Processing are off to a great start. Our Cranes segment improved compared to the prior year, but performed below our expectations in the quarter.”
“I’m pleased to see the global AWP markets remain healthy and strong,” said Matt Fearon, Genie president, Terex AWP. “The teams have done an excellent job of responding to customer needs and it is reflected in our Q1 results. We see this momentum carrying through 2018, despite some of the recent headwinds facing the industry. We’re continuing our emphasis on innovative new products and using our global teams to meet rising demand.”
The improvement in the Cranes segment was driven by higher demand and favorable impact of foreign exchange rates. Operating performance improved year over year but results were negatively impacted by disruptions in the company’s mobile crane factories caused by supply chain challenges. Terex is working closely with its suppliers to address the issues. Indications for future growth are positive, with Terex Cranes ending the quarter with backlog up 58 percent compared to the end of Q117.
“Global crane markets were fairly stable with pockets of growth as expected,” said Steve Filipov, president of Terex Cranes. “We executed well in Towers and Utilities, and we continued to roll out exciting new products including our Demag AC 300-6 all-terrain crane and Terex CTT 472-20 flat top tower crane.”
Garrison added that the company is increasing its full year 2018 adjusted EPS guidance from the $2.35 to $2.65 range to a range of $2.70 to $3. “This improvement reflects our first quarter results and capital market actions, and our expectation for continued growth and operational improvements over the balance of 2018,” he said.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.