Palfinger reports profitable 2020

Revenue at Palfinger in 2020 was €1,533.9 million (US$1,884.2 million), down 12.5 percent on the €1,753.8 million ($2,126.5 million) of 2019.

EBITDA at the Austrian manufacturer of cranes, aerial work platforms and materials handling machines was down by 15.6 % to €188.7 million ($228.9 million). The EBITDA margin was 12.3 %, down from 12.8 % in 2019. Operating income (EBIT) was €100.3 million ($121.7 million) down from €149.0 million ($180.7 million) in 2019. The company reported its lowest level of net debt since 2013.

“We were unable to escape the effects of the crisis,” said Andreas Klauser, Palfinger CEO, “through swift, targeted actions, we were able to actively counteract and further drive the ongoing transformation process.”

Klauser said the economic consequences of the crisis will also affect 2021. “Unpredictable change and the market risk from Covid-19 continue to exist.”

As if Covid wasn’t enough, the company then suffered a cyber attack at the end of January. One-off impacts of this will continue to be felt.

In outlook Klauser said, “Thanks to full order books, Palfinger has good coverage in the first half of 2021. All markets are expected to recover and further stabilise and we will start seeing this from summer onwards.”

Revenue for 2021 is forecast to exceed €1.7 billion ($2.1 billion) and the EBIT margin is expected to be 8 %. Looking further ahead the financial targets for 2024 are €2.0 billion ($2.4 billion) in revenue from organic growth, a 10 % average EBIT margin and a 10 % average ROCE over the business cycle, the company said.