Sales down at Manitowoc, rise now forecast

Third-quarter 2010 net sales in Manitowoc's crane segment were US$438.8 million, down 8% from $479.5 million in the third quarter of 2009. Sales were also down 3% from the second-quarter figure of $451.6 million.

Operating earnings for the third quarter of 2010 decreased to $16.2 million from $20.7 million in the same period last year. A $22.4 million decline from the second quarter of 2010 was attributed to higher engineering and prototype costs, expected seasonality in Europe and factory consolidation in France. At the end of September the order backlog was also down, by 15.6%, to $448 million from the end of June.

"We were confronted with continued challenges in our crane segment during the third quarter as the lack of meaningful improvement in the global economy, as well as typical seasonal patterns in Europe, resulted in lower sales volume," said Glen Tellock, Manitowoc chairman and chief executive officer. "With increasing utilisation rates in North America, favourable dealer inventories, and encouraging feedback at recent customer events, it is reasonable to expect that demand will improve as we move into 2011."

Tellock concluded, "Despite the lower than anticipated third-quarter revenues in our crane segment, we still have an opportunity to achieve our second half of the year revenue guidance for cranes."