Manitou First-Quarter Revenue Declines 14 Percent despite Strong Demand

Ancenis, France-based Manitou Group last week announced revenue in the first-quarter of 2013 declined 14 percent to €272 million (about U.S. $356.6 million) from €315.7 million in the same period a year ago. On a sequential basis, revenue declined 11 percent from fourth-quarter 2012 earnings of €306.2 million.

"The pause in Q1 revenue resulted from the natural flow of the vacuum in order intake recorded in the third quarter of 2012,” said Dominique Bamas, Manitou CEO. “It’s not representative of current demand, which continues to be strong, although remaining volatile. Excluding the impact of the termination of the Toyota contract at the end of 2012 in France, two of our three divisions continued to grow as compared to the first quarter of 2012. So instead of only focusing on revenue, we’re happily focusing on our first-quarter order intake, which reached its highest level in a year, and we’re organizing ourselves accordingly.

“Our order book is growing and, this time, we’re adjusting our production rate upwards. Each change in the cycle represents an effort for us, but our continued work to reform permits us to get through these cycles better and better. The solid strength of final demand, and the acceleration of operations, therefore permit us to maintain our objective of stable revenue for 2013.”

With revenue of €171.9 million (U.S. $225.4 million), the Rough-Terrain Handling Division recorded a 22-percent decrease in sales compared to Q1 2012. The decrease in sales was because of the sharp fall in orders recorded in Q3 2012 and the gradual return to increased production rates. Europe was affected the most by the slowdown in revenue, which occurred in spite of the increasing growth of order intake.

The Industrial Material Handling Division realized quarterly revenue of €35.1 million (U.S. $46.0 million), a 14-percent decrease compared to Q1 2012. Excluding the impact of the termination of the Toyota distribution contract, for which the full impact will not be felt until Q2 2013, the division reported growth of 6 percent compared to Q1 2012.

The Compact Equipment Division reported a 21-percent increase in revenue to €64.8 million (U.S. $84.9 million) compared to €53.6 million a year ago. In North America, sales remained strong driven by growth in the rental channel. In Europe, all markets affected by the sluggish economy recorded decreases, with a recovery in Italy, which is the largest market for skid-steer loaders on the continent.

Manitou also announced several changes in its executive management team. Hervé Saulais, general secretary, will leave the group by mutual agreement at the end of the first-half of 2013. Hervé Rochet, chief financial officer since 2005, will add the role of general secretary to his responsibilities. François-Frédéric Piffard was appointed vice president of sales and marketing, combining the responsibilities of his previous position as vice president of new business.

Manitou designs, manufactures and distributes material-handling solutions for the construction, agricultural and industrial sectors under the brand names Manitou, Gehl, Mustang, Loc and Edge.