Haulotte Group has delivered a 17% sales increase (at constant exchange rates), reporting € 239.8 million (US$ 268.6 million) for the first half of 2016, versus € 207.0 million (US$ 231.8 million) for the same period last year.
Excluding currency effects, the strong performance from Europe (+30%), driven by the recovery in investment expenditure of rental companies, and North America (+9%), offset a mixed picture in Asia Pacific (+1%) and a still difficult situation in Latin America (-6%).
The Group's other activities are growing in the first half of the year, by +9% on service activity, and +2% on rental activity at constant exchange rates.
Current operating income, excluding exchange gains and losses, was up 39% and amounted to 6.2% of sales (+ 1 pt compared to first half of 2015). It is mainly due to a significant growth in volume, notably in Europe, despite an increasingly competitive market.
The Group's net debt continues to decrease (€ -6.2 million excluding guarantees given), thanks to good profitability and good working capital control.
Outlook and recent events
Haulotte Group confirms, for the year 2016, growth in revenue close to 5%, due to the particularly high level of activity in the last quarter of 2015 and an improvement of its current operating margin rate.
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