Manitou Announces Half-Year Results; Targets Growth in North America

The board of Manitou, a manufacturer of material handling solutions for the construction, agricultural and industrial sectors, has met to approve the company’s 2014 half-year financial statements.

Michel Denis, president and CEO, said: “The 2014 half-year results were totally in-line with our roadmap and confirmed the forecasted improvement in the group’s financial performance. The 9% growth in sales compared to H1 2013 (+13% like for like) were achieved within a difficult environment and permitted us to strengthen our market position through improvements in our market share. That was made possible thanks to the work of our teams and our networks which could rely on an efficient and responsive operating chain.”

An improvement in gross margin to 14.5% of sales (13.7% in H1 2014) combined with the decrease in overheads resulted in operating income from continued operations of €24.5 million or 3.8% of sales (0.9% in H1 2013).

Denis added: “The downward trend in the Euro exchange rate in recent months is very good news and, in addition to our continued efforts to reduce general overheads, contributes to the improvement in results. In the second half-year, we remain very attentive to market developments for the rental and agriculture markets, for the first because of its high volatility and for the second because of its already pronounced slowdown. We are pursuing our development efforts in growth regions, especially in North America and Northern Europe.”