Manitou revenue drops, orders rise

Manitou Group has reported a 24% drop in revenue for 2020 but says orders were at record levels by the end of the year.

The France-based company’s revenue was $1,915 million (€1,585 million) for the whole of 2020, down from $2,531 million (€2,094 million) in 2019, which it said was slightly above expectations. The fourth quarter saw a smaller decrease, by 13% to $522 million (€432 million).

In contrast, its fourth quarter order intake was €727 million, up from $879 million (€483 million) in the same period of 2019, and represented a quarterly order record. For the whole of the year orders stood at $1110 million (€918 million), compared to $719 million (€595 million) at the end of 2019.

Concerning the fourth quarter, Michel Denis, Manitou Group’s president and chief executive officer, said, “All geographies and markets were dynamic, including European and North American rental companies. We thus ended the year with the second highest level of order book we have ever experienced before. This increase in our backlog reinforces the group’s commercial positioning. It leads us to accelerate our production rates on all sites.” He added that focus across the group has also been on its New Horizons 2025 roadmap and re-structuring plan. 

The group’s Material Handling & Access Division (MHA) generated quarterly sales of $332 million (€275 million), down 18% on the same period in 2019, and down 30% over the 12 months.

The Compact Equipment Products Division (CEP) achieved fourth quarter sales of $95 million (€79 million), down 2% compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, and down 20% over 12 months. Manitou said sales had been particularly affected in North America, with the announcement of the closure of its Waco site being a significant factor in the year.

With revenues of $95 million (€79 million), the Services & Solutions Division (S&S) recorded a 2% decrease in activity, compared to the fourth quarter in 2019 and a 3% decrease over 12 months.

Denis added that while the health crisis and economic uncertainties could impact business in 2021, he was optimistic for the year ahead. “Given this much more favourable context and these exogenous pressures, we anticipate sales growth for 2021 of more than 10% over the previous year.”