18.08.2007

Liebherr confirms 2006 numbers

Crane maker Liebherr has confirmed 2006 revenues of €6.47 billion, an increase of 22 percent on 2005.

As a private Swiss company, Liebherr only releases basic information on its accounts. However it does break down revenues by major sector.

Liebherr Ehingen, which builds the groups mobile cranes, recorded a 23.3 percent increase in sales with revenues of €1.373 billion.

The group’s tower cranes are mixed in with its concrete products, this division reported an increase in revenues of almost 42 percent to €709.2 million.

The Maritime crane division posted sales of €422.6 million, an increase of almost 30 percent on 2005.

At the end of 2006 the group employed 26,337 staff and invested €410 million during the year.

Vertikal Comment

Liebherr continues to benefit from the buoyant crane market, but has stretched its crane production capability to the limit. Some models are sold out until 2010, this production constraint is likely to limit the company’s immediate growth prospects.

In spite of this it should easily achieve a new revenue record of €7 billion, possibly hitting €7.5 billion for the full year?

In the past few years, Liebherr has spent much of its investment on greenfield sales and service operations rather than adding any significant new crane production capacity. One of the reasons for this is tightness in the component market, which has been the biggest brake on capacity in recent years.

With Manitowoc and Terex both looking to add capacity through acquisitions in China and Tadano adding capacity through new production facilities, Liebherr must surely be considering adding to its crane capacity? Where, when and how much are the key questions?