Publicly traded manufacturers of Hyster and Yale forklifts and JLG access equipment have reported quarterly improvements for those lines.

Nacco Industries Inc of Mayfield Heights, Ohio has the Hyster-Yale business, and Oshkosh Corp of Oshkosh, Wisconsin operates the JLG brand within its access equipment segment.

Profit of the Nacco Materials Handling Group (NMHG) for its second fiscal quarter ended 30 June was USD19.2 million - up from USD7.3 million for the same time last year. NMHG sales were USD648.0 million for the recent quarter in comparison to USD413.5 million in the 2010 quarter.

In a coincidence, parent firm Nacco Industries had consolidated quarterly profit of USD19.2 million versus profit of USD15.9 million in the comparable 2010 quarter.

NMHG increased worldwide shipment of new units to approximately 19,900 from approximately 19,400 units in the first quarter of 2011.

NMHG's worldwide backlog was approximately 25,100 units at 30 June 2011, compared with approximately 21,700 units one year earlier.

The company expects global market levels for units and parts volumes to continue to strengthen. "The company expects increased bookings in 2011 compared with 2010 but with declining comparative increases each quarter over the prior-year quarter because the 2010 quarters became increasingly stronger as the year progressed."

NMHG says it "will continue to monitor ongoing market improvements and adjust manufacturing levels as necessary". Currently, NMHG does not anticipate significant supply chain constraints or disruptions.

NMHG says its new electric-rider, warehouse, internal combustion engine and big truck product development programs continue to move forward.

Nacco launched an electric lift truck in June and expects to add two other electric-rider lift trucks in the series in late 2011.
It expects to introduce a new medium-duty internal combustion engine lift truck in Europe in the third quarter of 2011 to complement the product launched in the Americas in July 2010.

NMHG designs, engineers, manufactures, sells and services forklifts and aftermarket parts under the Hyster and Yale brand names.

Oshkosh Corp reports gains for access and defence equipment during its third quarter ended 30 June, but lower company-wide profit and sales potentially give ammunition to Carl C Icahn. The activist shareholder disclosed acquisition through 30 June of 9.1% of Oshkosh common stock (Forkliftaction.com News #521).

"We are pleased with the progress we made on a number of fronts during our third fiscal quarter, particularly in our access equipment and defence segments," says Charles L Szews, Oshkosh president and chief executive officer. Access equipment sales to external customers totaling USD562.7 million represents growth of 44.3% compared to the prior-year third quarter and "the segment's operating income margins improved to 5.1 %".

The firm says the growth primarily occurred "as a result of demand for replacement equipment in North America".

Szews notes, "We are receiving solid feedback on JLG's 150-foot Ultra Boom" series telescopic lift. The company says the equipment's capacity is "almost double the work envelope of other manufacturers' boom lifts".

The access equipment segment reports quarterly sales of USD296.2 million for aerial work platforms and USD152.9 million for telehandlers. In the prior-year third quarter, the sales were USD191.5 million for aerial work platforms and USD108.6 million for telehandlers. The access equipment segment saw reduced intersegment sales relating to military production of mine-resistant ambush-protected all-terrain vehicles (M-ATV) for the Oshkosh defence segment. That reduction drove down the access equipment segment's results for the quarter.

During fiscal 2010, Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based Oshkosh transferred operational responsibility of its JerrDan towing and recovery business unit to the JLG-led access equipment segment from the fire and emergency segment. JerrDan results are included within the access equipment reporting segment for financial reporting purposes, and historical information includes JerrDan in the segment.

Company-wide, Oshkosh reports profit of USD68.4 million on sales of USD2.02 billion versus profit of USD211.2 million on sales of USD2.44 billion in the third quarter last year.