Terex Cranes profit increases

Terex Cranes has reported a solid increase in profits for the fourth quarter on slightly lower revenues.

Total revenue for the year was down seven percent at $1.79 billion, while operating profits fell over 22 percent to $85.9 million. The backlog at the end of the year was $538.5 million up more than seven percent on the year. Revenues were largely affected by slower sales in North America and Australia.

In the fourth quarter revenues continued to slip, falling around 1.5 percent to $474.3 million, while operating profits jumped almost 35 percent to $34.6 million.

The overhead and port crane business is continuing to improve, with sales up five percent for the year to $1.78 billion. While the operating loss was reduced from $41.8 million last year to $17.2 million in 2014.

Terex as a whole saw revenues increase over three percent to $7.3 billion, with a pre-tax profit of 297.2 million just over two percent up on the year. Net debt was cut by around $258 million to $1.3 billion.

Chief executive Ron DeFeo said: “Terex continued to improve in 2014 despite a more challenging operating environment than anticipated entering the year. We have streamlined our business portfolio, reduced our cost structure, introduced innovative new products, and simplified operations. There is more work to do, but overall we are pleased with the progress we have made and the momentum of our internal improvement initiatives.” (Source:  Vertikal.net)