Hyster 400-EC container handler

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc reports lower profit and higher sales for the second quarter ended 30 June. Another equipment manufacturer, Manitex International Inc, increased profits by 12.5% and sales by 9.3%, ahead of its pending PM Group SpA acquisition and another Liftking contract. Hyster-Yale Hyster-Yale had profit of USD33.0 million on sales of USD684.7 million for the second quarter versus profit of USD36.2 million on sales of USD659.6 million for the comparable quarter last year. The report includes results of all wholly owned Hyster-Yale subsidiaries and the 75%-owned joint venture Shanghai Hyster Forklift Ltd in China. Sales to external customers grew in the three geographic management units to USD440.8 million in the Americas, USD184.2 million in Europe and USD59.7 million in the Asia Pacific. In June, Nacco Materials Handling Group Brasil Ltda, an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary, completed the sale of real estate and an operating facility to Synergy Empreendimentos E Participacoes Ltda. NMHG Brasil received USD8.2 million related to the sale and recognised a gain of USD17.7 million. Proceeds from the sale are expected to be used for a new facility in Brazil. An upfront payment of USD9.9 million was received in the second quarter of 2013, when the sale agreement was executed. In addition, USD0.9 million was deposited into an escrow account that will be released to NMHG Brasil upon conclusion of certain environmental remediation. As of 30 June, Mayfield Heights-based Hyster-Yale's backlog of unfilled orders placed with its manufacturing and assembly operations for new forklifts was approximately 28,800 units, or approximately USD745 million. Substantially all of those are expected to be sold during 2014. The backlog on 30 June 2013 was approximately 29,300 units, or approximately USD700 million. During the current third quarter, Hyster-Yale says it plans to introduce the first group of its premium big-truck models with Tier IV final emission solutions. Nacco Industries Inc spun off Hyster-Yale into a separate, publicly traded company in September 2012. Manitex Bridgeview-based Manitex reports profit of USD3.0 million on sales of USD 68.4 million versus profit of USD2.7 million on sales of USD62.6 million for the comparable 2013 quarter. Consolidated backlog at 30 June was USD102.5 million, up from USD77.3 million on 31 December. "While our quarterly results were slightly below plan, we continued to grow our revenues to new highs with solid bottom line net income, while EBITDA margins were in line with our historic levels," says David Langevin, chairman and chief executive officer. "The strategic direction we've taken to expand our product portfolio and diversify our revenue sources through in-house development and acquisitions continues to serve us well." Manitex envisions "gradual improvement in demand from Europe" and completing the PM Group acquisition during the fourth quarter.