February 3 - Manitowoc's cranes business has posted an 18.1 percent year-on-year decline in net sales for the fourth quarter of 2015.
Net sales in the cranes business stood at USD543.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared with USD663.2 million in the same period of 2014.
Crane operating earnings for the fourth quarter of 2015 totalled USD24.1 million, down from USD45.3 million in the same period last year.
For the full year, revenue in Manitowoc's cranes segment declined 19.1 percent to USD1.9 billion, and operating earnings declined to USD64.3 million, compared with USD163.9 million recorded in 2014.
Manitowoc attributed the decline to continuing weakness in rough-terrain cranes and boom trucks due to declining oil prices and its impact across energy-related end markets.
However, said the manufacturer, this decline was partially offset by strength in crawler cranes driven by accelerating shipments of the company's VPC technology.
"Our cranes business performed as expected during the fourth quarter," said Manitowoc chairman and interim ceo, Kenneth W. Krueger. "While orders improved sequentially from the third quarter, sales continue to be impacted by tepid customer demand. However, the benefits of cost control actions are beginning to take hold to improve overall profitability."
Barry L. Pennypacker, president and ceo of Manitowoc Cranes, added: "During the quarter, we saw pockets of better demand within our all-terrain category fueled by our new five-axle GMK5250L. However, the overall business remains challenged by an uncertain macro-economic environment."
In light of these circumstances, Manitowoc Cranes expects revenue for the full-year 2016 to remain flat.
"The full-year 2016 net sales outlook for Manitowoc Cranes assumes no improvement in the global economic backdrop, but modest stabilisation in demand," added Pennypacker.
