Global access equipment heavyweight Haulotte has reported a 27% fall in revenues for 2020 owing to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company announced a consolidated revenue of €439.6 million in 2020 compared with €610.8 million in 2019, and added that it achieved €114.5 million in the last quarter of 2020, which was down 12% year-on-year but up 13% over Q3 2020, driven mainly by sales in the Asia-Pacific.
Giving its outlook for the coming months, however, Haulotte said that “despite a still very uncertain environment, the improvement in sales activity noted in recent weeks and the expected return on investment from major rental companies” should enable it to post sales growth of around 10% in 2021.
For 2020, while sales declined globally in all regions in 2020, the lowest fall was recorded in Asia, where a strong Chinese market kept the decline to only 14% over the year. On the European market, where almost all territories posted significant declines, Haulotte’s cumulative sales were down 29%.
“In North America, which was also badly affected by the pandemic, the trend observed in previous months was confirmed, with annual sales in the aerial work platforms business holding up well, falling by 16%. Overall, in this region, combining all activities, sales remained down -26%,” said Haulotte’s statement.
Haulotte added that in Latin America, where the health and economic situation in the various markets remained particularly challenging, it recorded a 47% drop in sales.
“In the end, equipment sales fell by 28% over the year. Rental activity, particularly in Argentina, which was heavily impacted by the health crisis and the country’s economic situation, was down 41% compared with 2019.”
