The Wacker Neuson Group continued on its growth path during the first half of 2019. Revenue rose 15.2 percent relative to the prior-year period to reach a new record high of EUR 950.7 million (H1/18: EUR 825.1 million). “The first half of the year showed us once again that our solutions meet the needs of our customers,” explains Martin Lehner, CEO of Wacker Neuson SE. “We gained shares in numerous markets, driven largely by our many product innovations – which are key competitive differentiators for us. The raft of developments that we showcased at bauma in Munich last April illustrate that we are ideally positioned to continue along this growth path and achieve the medium-term goals set out in our Strategy 2022.”
In 2018, the Group’s growth was hampered by major bottlenecks in the global supply chain. “The situation here has eased considerably,” continues Lehner. However, reducing the number of unfinished machines caused by these bottlenecks resulted in additional effort that temporarily slowed productivity at the manufacturing plants. Profit before interest and tax (EBIT) for the first half-year rose 7.4 percent to EUR 84.5 million (H1/18: EUR 78.7 million). At 8.9 percent, the EBIT margin was slightly lower than the prior-year level (H1/18: 9.5 percent). This result was further squeezed by increased production and logistics costs as well as ongoing restructuring measures at the US plant in Menomonee Falls. Nevertheless, the Group expects the progress that it has already made in the US to have a tangible positive impact on profitability in the second half of 2019 relative to the previous year.