06.11.2007

Gehl sales drop 7%

Gehl, the USA based producer of telescopic handlers and skid steer loaders has reported a fall in revenues for the first nine months of 2007 of over seven percent to $355 million.

The company says that the markets for both its product lines are down, with the telehandler market dropping by around 35 percent in North America. Gehl says that it has managed to increase its market share although it is not specific to what degree.

Gross margins over the nine months improved from 21.6 percent to 22.4 percent with further improvement in the third quarter to over 23 percent. Pre tax profits were down by over 12 percent to $31 million.

Margins have been boosted by improvements in manufacturing and supply chain management, along with an increase in exports, particularly of the company’s skid steer loaders, 47 percent of which were exported in the third quarter.