JLG Industries chairman Bill Lasky has reaffirmed that company sales for financial year 2003, ending July 31, will be consistent with the forecasted USD770 million.

"While it continues to appear that we are at the bottom of the cycle, forward visibility remains very difficult," he said. "Although the contraction of non-residential construction, one of our leading indicators, appears to have bottomed out in 2002, it still remains sluggish in 2003, with a rebound anticipated in 2004."

In February, JLG, which manufactures mobile aerial work platforms, telehandlers and telescopic hydraulic excavators, forecast a modest profit improvement for 2003.

Meanwhile, JLG will seek to raise up to USD125 million through a private sale of senior notes to institutional buyers. Success of the offering was contingent on market conditions, the company said.

The publicly-traded firm would use the net proceeds of the sale to repay outstanding debt under its existing USD250 million revolving credit facility, and for general corporate purposes.