Haulotte Revenues Decline 19 Percent in First Quarter
Haulotte recorded revenues of €132.9 million in the first quarter of 2020, compared to €163.2 million in the same period last year (which had been a record first quarter in the group’s history), representing a 19 percent drop between the two periods, and marking a return to the 2018 level.
In North America, Haulotte experienced a limited decline in sales of 2 percent in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year, with aerial work platforms activity even showing growth of 10 percent, in a market that is nonetheless in decline.
In a European market that confirmed its slowdown observed in the second half of 2019 and was further impacted by the COVID-19 crisis from beginning of March, Haulotte's cumulative sales declined 23 percent between the two periods, negatively impacted by Southern Europe, the zone most affected by the pandemic.
In Asia-Pacific, where all markets are in sharp decline, the group reported a 13 percent drop in sales for the quarter compared to the same period in 2019.
In Latin America, the vast majority of markets continue to decline, with the exception of Brazil, which is still on the rise. In this context, sales in this area decreased by 25 percent compared to the same period last year.
At the end of the first quarter of 2020, equipment sales were dropped 20 percent compared to the first quarter of 2019, rental activity was down 22 percent and service activity tumbled 8 percent.
Given the uncertainties regarding the duration and extent of the health crisis related to COVID-19, Haulotte has decided to suspend, at this stage, its financial guidance for the year 2020 and will communicate new elements as soon as conditions allow. The group has already taken all the necessary measures to best manage the first consequences of this unprecedented crisis and enable Haulotte to calmly address its next steps.
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.