Terex Corp. this week announced net income for the first quarter of 2010 of $539.9 million, or $4.98 per share, compared to a net loss of $74.9 million or $0.79 per share, for the first quarter of 2009. During the first quarter, the company recognized a net gain on the disposition of its Mining business of $620.4 million or $5.72 per share.
Terex reported a net loss from continuing operations for the first quarter of $79 million, $0.73 per share, compared to a net loss from continuing operations of $98.5 million, or $1.04 per share, for the first quarter of 2009.
Net sales for continuing operations were $935.9 million in the first quarter of 2010, a decrease of 3.1 percent compared with $965.8 million in the first quarter of 2009. Net sales decreased about 17 percent from the same period in 2009.
“First-quarter results were in line with our expectations,” said Terex chairman and CEO Ron DeFeo. “Clearly, we had significant gains from the sale of the mining business, but we also had a stable, but low, level of operating performance from continuing operations. We see tangible signs of an improving environment, with moderately positive order activity in many of our early cycle product categories versus year-ago levels. While we believe end markets will not provide much sales volume benefit in 2010, current trends have increased our confidence in a more robust 2011 operating environment. We remain confident in the long-term outlook for our business and are focused on achieving positive earnings per share performance exiting 2010.”
Terex president and chief operating officer Tom Riordan added that order activity in most product categories increased during the first quarter of 2010 compared with the previous quarter and previous year periods. “However, our Cranes segment experienced a backlog decline compared with the fourth quarter of 2009,” Riordan said. “Specifically, softening of the all-terrain crane order book, as well as improving delivery capability of the Terex Port Equipment business, led to a $157 million decline in Cranes backlog. A developing trend is an improved global outlook for larger crawler cranes, and we’ve recently added more of these cranes to our 2010 production schedule.”
Looking forward, Riordan said the company expects continued non-residential end-market softness in North America and Europe and strength in developing markets for the remainder of the year. Riordan added the company has several new product launches planned for the fall.
“Our expectation for full-year 2010 performance heading into this year was for sales to be approximately $5 billion, resulting in breakeven operating performance before interest and taxes, and excluding re-structuring and unusual items,” added DeFeo. “While the Atlas sale, in combination with currency exchange rate changes … will likely negatively influence our top-line results, we view our operating results this quarter as being in line with our previous outlook. Longer term, we remain focused on the growth goals we previously established for Terex. Assuming a return to a more normalized economic operating environment, based on the historical performance of our remaining businesses, we believe doubling our revenue, with net income of approximately $6 per share, is achievable by 2013.”
Net sales for the aerial work platform segment for the first quarter of 2010 decreased $10.6 million, or 4.7 percent, to $215.7 million compared with the first quarter of 2009. Rental customers in North America and Europe continue to age and reduce their aerial fleets, deferring the acquisition of new products. Developing market demand for large booms, light towers and telehandlers has continued to improve, as markets such as Brazil are building equipment fleets to support strong infrastructure growth under way.
Terex Corp. is based in Westport, Conn.
