‘Significant’ Q1 growth for Wacker Neuson Group

But the company admitted that it does not expect to improve on these figures during the rest of the year.

The Wacker Neuson TH412eElectric Telehandler, which was first presented at Bauma in October 2022. Telehandlers, along with wheeled loaders and excavators played at big part in the company’s European growth at the start of this year. (Photo: Wacker Neuson)

The Germany-based company’s revenue climbed by almost 28% year-on-year to €667.2 million, while EBIT (earnings before interest and taxation) – aided by a one-off sale of fixed assets – more than doubled to €87.8 million.

The EBIT margin of 13.2% was also considerably higher than the 7.5% achieved in 2022.

“As anticipated in our annual guidance, we have carried the full momentum from previous quarters into the new fiscal year and continued to grow significantly,” said Dr Karl Tragl, chairman of the executive board and CEO of the Wacker Neuson Group.

“At the same time, we continue to expect the first quarter to also be the strongest of 2023.” r

As in previous quarters, all three reporting regions contributed to growth in the first quarter with big increases.

In the Europe (EMEA) region, revenue rose by 22.4% €504 million compared to €411.6 million in 2022, with particularly positive growth in Germany.

On the product side, demand for excavators, wheeled loaders and telehandler increased noticeably.

The Americas region grew by 57% to €142.6 million, with a particular sharp year-on-year increase in the USA and further growth in Canada and South American markets.

Asia-Pacific region posted a lesser increase, by 7.3% to €20.6 million, driven primarily by the Australian market with products adapted to the needs of the local market and the focus on independent rental companies continuing to generate strong demand.

By contrast, the Chinese market continued to prove difficult and declined in the first quarter.

Speaking on supply chains after the group’s net working capital ratio fell from 31.9% to 30%, CFO Christian Burkhard said: “We are are still a long way from a normalisation of the situation.

“However, the continued increase in inventory levels paid off in the first quarter as we systematically exploited our growth opportunities. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that effective working capital management remains at the top of our agenda.”