Michel Denis, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: “The group closes the year 2020 in line with revenues of €1585 million slightly above our expectations and with a record order intake in the last quarter.”
“This sequence of recovery, much stronger than initially anticipated, reflects the tremendous work of the teams and gives the group a new impetus for 2021. In the fourth quarter, customer requests accelerated month after month to end with a magnitude previously unknown until December. All geographies and markets were dynamic, including European and North American rental companies. We thus ended the year with the second highest level of order book we have never experienced before. This increase in our backlog reinforces the group’s commercial positioning. It leads us to accelerate our production rates on all sites. This exercise will involve our entire supply chain. However, the health context and economic uncertainties could impact business in 2021. Given this much more favorable context and these exogenous pressures, we anticipate sales growth for 2021 of more than 10% over the previous year.”
Business review by division
The Material Handling & Access Division – (MHA) generated quarterly sales of €275 million, down -18% compared with Q4 2019 and down -30% over 12 months (-29% at constant exchange rates and scope). The business recovery has been global. All operations were focused on accelerating production rates and preparing for the group’s new organization.
The Compact Equipment Products Division – (CEP) achieved fourth-quarter sales of €79 million, down -2% compared with Q4 2019 and down -20% over 12 months (-19% at constant exchange rates and scope). The recovery has affected all markets, especially the North American rental market. The announcement of the closure of the Waco site and the preparation of the group’s new organizational plan also strongly mobilized the teams.
With revenues of €79 million, the Services & Solutions Division – (S&S) recorded a -2% decrease in activity compared to Q4 2019 and a -3% decrease over 12 months (-3% also at constant exchange rates and scope). Fiscal-year 2020 once again demonstrates the performance and resilience of the division’s business, which continues, quarter after quarter, to strengthen the value provided to customers.