04.08.2015

Record revenues for Wacker Neuson

German compaction equipment to telehandler manufacturer Wacker Neuson has reported record first half results.

Total revenue for the six months was €706.4 million, 13.9 percent higher than last year, while pre-tax profits climbed 3.5 percent to €62.5 million, due to lower profits in the second quarter.

Moving on to the second quarter revenues increased 16.4 percent to €382.1 million a good deal of it due to exchange rate gains on business in the Americas and Asia. Pre-tax profits however slipped almost 19 percent to €32.2 million, due to the fact that the product mix has shifted from smaller ‘light equipment’ towards ‘compact equipment – which includes telehandlers – which carry a lower margin. Larger equipment now represents more than 50 percent of the company’s revenues. Other factors include heavier spending on Research & Development and comparison with a very strong quarter last year.

The company is maintaining its forecasts of achieving total revenues for the year of between €1.4 and €1.45 billion.

Chief executive Cem Peksaglam said: “Our business grew significantly despite negative market developments in many countries, especially outside of the US and Europe. This is due to our strong market position and our continued commitment to implementing our strategy. The group intensified its production, R&D and sales activities in response to the strong rise in revenue. We are strengthening our foundation for future success by making carefully managed investments in our international organisation,”

“Our order books are full and we expect the promising conditions in established markets to have a positive impact on our business. The group expects revenue growth for the year to range between nine and 13 percent. The EBIT margin should still be on target between 9.5 and 10.5 percent. Our plans to launch truly new and innovative products to market together with continued stable business in the US, initial signs of improvement in various crisis-hit countries and our stronger services segment should all have a positive impact on group performance in the second half.”

Vertikal Comment

Another strong set of numbers from Wacker Neuson, which is developing a strong reputation for its larger products, and quietly expanding its telescopic handler business wining an increasing share of the market for compact models. With larger models coming on stream, a new strategy for the agricultural market and its focus on the longer term, it would not surprise us to see the company move past other more established telehandler producers such as Bobcat over the next few years.