Manitou reported 2019 revenue of about $2.3 billion (2.09 billion euro), up 11 percent over 2018 numbers, with North American sales up 15 percent. The company forecast 2020 sales to decline about 10 percent.
“The group ended the year 2019 with a revenue that exceeded the 2 billion euro mark for the first time in its history, while strengthening its global presence and market share,” said Michel Denis, president/CEO, in a prepared statement. “The doubling of order intake in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter gives the order book a depth of around four months of activity. We are thus finding our optimal balance between our customers’ delivery time expectations and our suppliers' need for visibility in order to supply ourselves in a fluid manner after the cyclical peak in delivery times that we reached at the end of 2018.”
He noted that demand remained strong in the fourth quarter.
“We note, however, that in the construction sector, rentals continue to speak positively on market dynamics, while maintaining a wait-and-see attitude with regard to their investment decisions.
The gradual slowdown in the world economy, combined with uncertainties such as the effects of Brexit or the U.S. elections, lead us to anticipate a decline in sales of around 10% in 2020 compared to 2019.”
Sales in the material handling and access division were up 13 percent compared to 2018, and sales in the compact equipment group—which included Gehl—were up 5 percent.
Source: Manitou Group
