Manitex announces increased order backlog

Manitex International announced a consolidated order backlog of US$133 million as of March 31, 2012. This is an increase of 59 percent from December 31, 2011, a 179 percent year over year increase, and represents another all-time high for the company and the eighth successive quarterly increase.

Robust demand for Manitex boom truck cranes continues to lead the backlog higher, and the company is also seeing continued strength in the demand for its other specialized products. As previously reported, in the fourth quarter of 2011 the company began activity to increase output at its key facilities in conjunction with its supply chain for further expansion in 2012 to support the growing customer demand. The current backlog calls for products to ship throughout 2012 and into early 2013.

"The order intake for the quarter was exceptionally strong and is being driven by demand for specialized products for the energy sector," said Andrew Rooke, president and CEO. "While Manitex boom trucks represent the major part of this backlog, we have also been successful in securing increased orders in other parts of our portfolio. In particular, Load King is also benefiting from the high levels of demand from the energy sector for both standard and specialized trailers, while CVS Ferrari has just secured a $4 million international order for terminal tractors. We remain focused on ramping up production, particularly at Manitex, to ensure that our product deliveries keep up with the pace of customer demand and to drive steady increases in our quarterly revenues throughout the year."

Paul Gibson, general manager of Manitex, said demand for Manitex equipment, particularly the higher tonnage cranes, is being driven by continued activity in the North American energy sector. "Our recent product development initiatives have been targeted to several specific areas of operation for the energy sector and have led directly to new orders," Gibson said. "Additionally, the expansion of our dealer and sales network, as previously reported, has provided improved geographical dealer coverage and support for our products in North America. We are seeing progress in our efforts to increase production and anticipate this leading to higher sales throughout the year."