Wacker Neuson Reports Strong Nine Months but Soft Third Quarter
Global manufacturer of light and compact equipment, the Wacker Neuson Group, reported record revenue of more than €1 billion for the first nine months of 2015. However, the market experienced a squeeze in the third quarter, leading the company to revise its forecast downward for the year while still expecting to report record revenue for 2015.
Based on preliminary figures Wacker Neuson’s revenue for the first nine months of 2015 increased 8.7 percent relative to the previous year to reach €1,017.4 million (about U.S. $1,162,7 million), compared to €936.2 million in the first nine months of 2014. However, profit before interest and tax (EBIT) fell 21.5 percent to €81.2 million, and the EBIT margin was 8 percent.
“Revenue for the first quarter of the year rose by an impressive 11 percent and by an even stronger 16 percent in Q2,” said Cem Peksaglam, Wacker Neuson CEO. “This was followed by an unexpectedly pronounced slowdown in demand in the third quarter. Revenue in September fell markedly compared with the previous year. As a result, revenue for the third quarter lies below the same figure for the previous year, which was a strong period for the Group. Nevertheless, this is the first year that we have been able to report revenue in excess of €1 billion for the first nine months of the year.”
In Europe, revenue for the first nine months of the year rose 6 percent year over year. Europe accounts for 72 percent of Wacker Neuson’s total revenue. In the Americas, Wacker Neuson posted 15.4 percent revenue growth, tempered by currency effects. Revenue for Asia-Pacific was 22.6 percent higher year over year (12 percent when adjusted to discount currency effects).
Revenue for the compact equipment segment jumped 14.8 percent year over year, while revenue from light equipment increased 3.6 percent. Revenue for the services segment jumped 4.3 percent.
The company adjusted its forecast for the current year, and now expects group revenue between €1.35 billion and €1.40 billion.
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.