Nacco Material Handling Group's wholesale unit expects a modest increase in overall forklift shipments this year after a marked increase in the first quarter.

NMHG Wholesale shipped 17,452 units during the quarter ended March 31, compared to 14,971 in last year's first quarter. "Pre-war purchasing conservatism" impacted bookings, the company said in a statement. The worldwide order backlog was 17,300 units.

The wholesale unit recorded a profit of USD4.7 million on sales of USD382.6 million, compared to USD5.6 million on sales of USD327.7 million for the first quarter of 2002.

"While market prospects are unusually uncertain, lift truck markets in the Americas are anticipated to improve in the second half of 2003, while markets in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region are expected to remain relatively flat," the report said.

"NMHG Wholesale expects results in 2003 will be affected by ongoing costs for a product development program that is expected to mature in 2004-2006 and additional costs related to the Lenoir, North Carolina, [USA] and Irvine, Scotland, manufacturing restructuring program announced in December.''

NMHG's retail operations improved in the quarter, primarily in Asia-Pacific, but needed to include wind-down costs related to sold dealerships, the company said.

Consequently, NMHG Retail posted a loss of USD1.4 million on sales of USD36.4 million for the quarter, compared to last year's USD1.3 million loss on USD44.1 million in sales. The January sale of NMHG's only wholly-owned US dealer was the primary cause for the decline in revenue.

"NMHG Retail expects to continue to improve the performance of its wholly-owned dealerships in 2003 as part of its program to reach at least break-even results," the company said.