Manitou's financial performance

The COVID-19 pandemic and the global recession have directly impacted the 2020 half-year revenue of Palfinger AG. April and May, especially, were characterised by supply chain disruptions, national lockdowns and plant closures. A slight recovery was seen from June onwards.

"Palfinger quickly and efficiently implemented measures to optimise liquidity, maintain supply chains and ensure the health of its workforce," says CEO Andreas Klauser. "In an extremely uncertain market environment with low visibility, we have given our employees, partners and customers maximum stability and reliability."

The COVID-19 Task Force set up at the end of February carried out a total of 220 measures for proactive management in three work packages: Health and Safety, Production and Operations Management, and Liquidity Optimisation. Summing up, Klauser says, "We dealt with this stage of the crisis successfully and enter the second half of the year on a solid footing."

Revenue of Palfinger fell 18.3% to EUR729.8 million (USD858 million) in the first half of 2020, while earnings fell 29% to EUR84.8 million (USD99.7 million).

Palfinger says the actions taken to counter the effects of the crisis and the structural reforms at the company have proven successful and will continue in the second half-year.

Klauser is also optimistic about the economy: "Markets are stabilising, visibility is improving. The recovering European economy increases demand: The order book of Palfinger is now pretty much as it was at the end of 2019. Provided there are no further external shocks, management is aiming for revenue of EUR1.5 billion (USD1.76 billion) overall in 2020."