Geographic diversity assists Palfinger

Global market reach helped hydraulic crane and aerial work platform manufacturer Palfinger’s financial results for the first three quarters of 2024.

Group revenue was €1,745 million (slightly down on the same period a year earlier), earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) was €158.7 million and the EBIT margin was 9.1 percent.

While order intake was still low in its core markets, including Europe – to the point of reducing production capacity in the EMEA region – Palfinger reported positive development in Latin America, Asia and growth its marine crane sector.

“The European core markets, especially Germany, are stagnating, while the upcoming US election is slowing down the demand in North America,” the company said.

Up in Asia

Growth in Asia was particularly strong in India while demand in China was flat. In Latin America Palfinger said Brazil and Argentina are “on course for growth.”

Andreas Klauser, Palfinger CEO. Photo: Palfinger/Peter Rigaud

Commenting on the above Andreas Klauser, Palfinger CEO, said, “Our geographical and product diversification has been a decisive resilience factor in the first three quarters. Given the volatile economic situation, we are actively tackling the challenges, increasing the attractiveness of our portfolio, intensifying customer proximity in growth regions and implementing cost-cutting measures.”

New products also helped the results, including a new series of loader cranes, a marine crane for heavy loads, plus a new series of access platforms.

Outlook

Looking ahead Palfinger said it expected positive performance to continue in the APAC and LATAM regions and for marine cranes. For Europe, however, the company said it saw “no significant improvement in the economic environment” and said production capacity in EMEA would be further reduced in the final quarter of 2024.

Commenting on expectation for the full year 2024, Klauser said, “we expect a good result despite challenging market conditions. Compared to 2023 [revenue: €2.45 billion] revenue is expected to decline by approximately 5 per cent, while EBIT is forecast to be over 10 % lower than record year 2023 [€210.2 million]. Due to a significant reduction of working capital, a clearly positive free cashflow is expected.”

Even with the challenges outlined above, the company retained its revenue target for 2027 of €3.0 billion, with an EBIT margin of 10 %. It added a warning, however, that “achieving the revenue target is becoming increasingly challenging due to the difficult market conditions.”