The Manitowoc Company reported sales of $860.1 million for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 17.5 percent compared to sales of $732.2 million in the first quarter of 2011. The sales increase was driven by a 29.3 percent increase in crane segment sales, coupled with a 3.8 percent increase in foodservice segment sales.
First-quarter 2012 net sales in the crane segment were $507.9 million, up 29.3 percent from $392.8 million in the first quarter of 2011. The increase was driven primarily by continued growth in the Americas region, as well as sustained demand in most emerging markets mitigated by weakness in European markets.
Crane segment operating earnings for the first quarter of 2012 increased to $22.5 million compared to $12.4 million in the same period last year. This resulted in an operating margin of 4.4 percent for the first quarter of 2012, up from 3.2 percent in the same period in 2011. The year-over-year increase in margin was due to absorption benefits of higher sales volume, partially offset by commodity costs and product sales mix.
Crane segment backlog totaled $931 million as of March 31, 2012, a 16 percent increase from $800 million in the prior-year quarter. First-quarter 2012 orders of $675 million were 10 percent higher than the first quarter of 2011. This is particularly noteworthy because orders in the first-quarter of 2011 benefited from ConEXPO, while no similar trade show was held in the first quarter of 2012.
“The first-quarter crane segment results reflect another quarter of strong order intake driven by robust demand in the Americas region, as well as growing interest in the new products we introduced in 2011. In addition, our backlog reached the highest levels since before the recession and represented a book-to-bill ratio of 1.3 times,” Tellock explained. “In Latin America, I am pleased to announce the recent opening of our new facility in Brazil, which began manufacturing in April, with the first deliveries expected in mid-year. The facility, located in Passo Fundo, gives us a competitive advantage as the first global crane manufacturer to produce rough-terrain cranes in this part of the world.”
Given first-quarter results that were in-line with expectations, the company is reaffirming its full-year guidance for 2012. For the full-year 2012, Manitowoc expects crane revenue will be 10 to 15 percent year-over-year percentage growth and crane operating earnings will be 30 to 40 percent year-over-year percentage increase.
For the full release, visit Manitowoc’s website.
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