22.10.2021

Pace of growth slows at Manitou

Telehandler and aerial lift manufacturer Manitou has released its third quarter sales numbers, which show the pace of growth slowing, although total revenues for the nine months to the end of September still showed a 22 percent improvement over the first nine months of 2020.

Revenues were made up of:
New product sales - €1.15 billion +24%
Services & Solutions - €248 million +12%
Total - €1.42 billion +22%

Geographically the breakdown was as follows:

Northern Europe: €572 million +32%
Southern Europe: €444 million +11%
The Americas: €254 million +17%
Asia Pacific: €132 million +26%

Full year forecast
The company expects full year revenues will come in around 15 percent up on 2020, so roughly €1.82 billion, still way below the €2.1 billion achieved in 2019, thanks mostly to supply chain restrictions that have slowed growth and inflated the order book.

Third quarter revenues
Third quarter revenues were made up of:
New product sales: €350 million +12%
Services €82 million +3%
Total €432 million +10%

Geographic breakdown was:
N. Europe €181 million +14%
S. Europe €131 million +4%
Americas €79 million +14%
Asia Pacific €41 million +10%

Order intake / Order book
Third quarter order intake for new machines was €856 million compared to €301 million in the same quarter last year. This left the order book/backlog at the end of September at €2.3 billion, compared to €544 million last year.

Chief executive Michel Denis said: “In the third quarter, the group achieved a 10 percent increase in turnover compared to the third quarter 2020. The record order intake momentum we have
been experiencing for the past year has been maintained. It concerns all our geographies and markets and projects our backlog at the end of September to a historic level of €2.3 billion.”

“Over the third quarter, sales were delivered in a context of increased pressure on component availability. Like all manufacturing sectors, the extent of disruptions has worsened significantly in recent weeks. This deteriorated context has led us to adjust our revenue forecast for 2021 to growth of around 15 percent compared to 2020. In addition, the annual growth outlook for the current operating income rate is unchanged.”

Vertikal Comment

This is decent set of numbers from Manitou, but clearly supply chain constraints continue to cause problems, with the company facing shortages of all manner of components, but particularly semi-conductor chips, cabs, engines and even steel. We hear that in some areas of Northern Europe Manitou has temporarily suspended new order intake, given that 2022 is already sold out, unless the company can significantly ramp up production. It has said that orders from the region have been arriving faster than it can allocate production slots – thus the temporary breather.

It has also said that when the order book does re-open, most likely at the end of the month, it will be at prices on average 3.5 percent higher than current levels. Part of the rationale behind this is put a brake on the wild speculative orders that always occur at times like this, and that all too quickly evaporate if dealer sales do not live up to the optimistic expectations when deliveries are finally due.

Manitou is not alone in this but does seem to have been a little harder hit than some other manufacturers. Given the challenges and strong demand it faces, a 3.5 percent price increase seems modest.

If the production situation eases a little by the start of the new year, all will be well, and the company will break all previous records. Even if it doesn’t the company is certainly on track to nudge past previous sales records.