The France-headquartered Group also saw its 2012 first half year revenue increase by 20% to €672 million, having recorded €562 million revenue in the first six months of the previous year. Meanwhile, MG net income was up 40% to €21 million in the first half of 2012, from €15 million over the same period of 2011.
Given what is said to be the Group’s strong order backlog at June 30, 2012, MG believes overall 2012 growth of 10% is still achievable.
Commenting on H1 2012 performance, Jean-Cristophe Giroux, Manitou president and chief executive, said the fact that the period had delivered good progress on the Group’s financial performance was an “accomplishment in today’s economy”.
However, he also warned that progress has been slower than expected, as margins had been affected by a combination of new current and structural elements.
He explained: “On the current side, H1 registered some one-off costs due to the RTH leadtimes reduction effort, new product launches, and external events such as the Festival or Open Up. It also suffered from certain difficult supplier situations and overall negative purchasing variances. On the more structural side, we now face a fuller impact of new normative regulations, and need to accelerate our efforts to adapt to the new environment and industry realities.
“Traditional cycles are now blurring into volatile and contrasted situations, but it does not impact our strategy and our ambition to double our size -we just have to deploy greater flexibility and adapt to shifting horizons.”
Giroux said MG had already adjusted its workforce and initiatives to match a “possibly conservative” demand plan for 2013, which, at the same time, would look to sustain efforts to improve Group performance.
MG has also announced the appointment of Fabrice Beslin as president, industrial material handling division. Beslin replaces Jean Louis Hervieu who is retiring.
