German compact equipment specialist Wacker Neuson has reported its highest ever first quarter revenue at $440.8, which is a 9% rise year-on-year.
While the growth was driven by increasing demand in the North American and European sectors, all regions and business segments of the company saw revenues rising in the first quarter of 2018. The company other brands – Weidemann and Kramer – also saw strong performance in the quarter.
The increase in revenue was even higher when adjusted for currency effects, coming in at 14% over the same quarter last year. Among the challenges were the weakness of the US dollar against the Euro, which impacted revenue by $19m, as well as delays in delivery due to strained situations among some suppliers.
With 72% of its business, Europe continued to be the largest market for Wacker Neuson with the revenue from the region rising 8% to $318.3m. The Americas grew even faster, rising 13% to $109.2m, which was actually a rise of 29% when adjusted for currency effects.
Martin Lehner, CEO, Wacker Neuson, said: “In the US, we benefited from a number of trends including increased investments from rental chains stocking up on worksite technology such as generators and heaters. Our performance was also bolstered by strong sales of our US-produced skid steer loaders.”
The Asia Pacific region saw a rise of 16% in revenue to $13m with growth being led by China, where Wacker Neuson started production of mini excavators in January.
Wacker Neuson also said that it secured its financing for the medium term at the end of the first quarter in March. Wilfried Trepels, CFO, explained: “We successfully placed a promissory note in the amount of $100m in the US and agreed on medium-term credit lines totalling $89m with three banks. This provides us with the funds we need to finance our growth strategy.”
The company forecasts revenues to rise 8-11% for the full year 2018 to between $1.95bn and $2.01bn, with a 9-10% target for EBIT margin.
