Manitou Group posted 17 percent growth during the first half of 2018, compared with the same period last year. The company says it now expects to grow sales revenues by more than 15 percent in 2018.
“Business was buoyant in all geographies and in our three markets of construction, agriculture and industry,” said Michel Denis, president and CEO. “In this very favorable environment, the Manitou Group continued to expand its product range, gain market share and increase its production rate.” The company entered the North American mobile elevated work platform market earlier this year.
Such growth has lead to “great demands on the operational chain, which remain tense but under control,” Denis commented. Increased production enabled Manitou to reduce order backlogs, “something we want to continue, in order to be more responsive to our customers,” he said.
Denis added that the increased tariffs enacted by the Trump Administration resulted in additional production costs, “which, like all American manufacturers, we pass on to our customers.”
Manitou reports its results in three divisions:
Material handling and access saw an increase of 16 percent in sales revenues compared with the first half of 2017, with construction and agricultural products seeing “particularly strong” growth.
Compact equipment products realized an increase of 29 percent in revenues compared with the first half of last year, with Manitou citing the growth of orders from North American rental companies as one contributing factor. In addition, the strength of the dollar allowed the company to improve the competitiveness of U.S.-produced machines.
Services and solutions division activities saw 9 percent growth in the first half compared to the same period last year. Strong players in the division were service, rental and used equipment activities, while parts and attachments revenues continued to grow.
In the United States, Manitou has three brands—Manitou, Gehl and Mustang by Manitou—and offers telehandlers, mobile elevating work platforms, skid steers, compact track loaders, compact excavators, compact wheel loaders, forklifts and attachments.