Terex Corp. announced third quarter net sales of $1 billion, down 6.8 percent compared to the third quarter of 2018. On a foreign exchange neutral basis, global sales declined 4.7 percent compared to the third quarter of 2018.
The Terex AWP business segment, including Genie, reported net sales of $628 million, down 13.9 percent compared to the third quarter of 2018, or down 12.5 percent excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates. Global Terex AWP backlog totaled $494 million and bookings in the quarter were $367 million.
“Our global team continues to focus on creating a ‘zero hard’ safety culture, delivering value to our customers and implementing our strategy,” said John Garrison, Terex chairman and CEO. “Looking at the global market environment, it has become clear that we are in a softening environment for industrial equipment, which is putting pressure on our global sales and booking levels.”
“At every point in the equipment cycle, our global teams focus on meeting the needs of our customers,” said Matt Fearon, Genie president Terex AWP. “While we are taking steps to align production levels and cost structure with the current environment, we will continue to invest in product development, innovation and technology that enhances our value proposition with our customers.
“I am encouraged by our performance in China where growth continues to be driven by customers adopting our advanced products, and we are excited about our long-term growth prospects across the Asia-Pacific region. The Terex Utilities team continues to execute well in a more stable market environment, and the new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that we are building in Watertown, S.D., remains on schedule.”
“Demand in the major markets for aerial work platforms has declined, putting pressure on sales,” added Garrison. “We reduced AWP production in the third quarter and have made further reductions in the fourth quarter to align with the market, which is impacting margins. Materials Processing continued its strong performance in the quarter, however bookings and backlog levels are also pointing to weaker demand in their global markets.
“I was pleased with our cash generation performance in the third quarter, as we achieved $104 million of free cash flow, representing a significant improvement compared to last year. As we enter a more challenging macro environment for industrial equipment, we are intensely focused on generating cash and maintaining a strong liquidity profile. We are well positioned, entering the fourth quarter, with approximately $1.1 billion in available liquidity.
“Based on our year-to-date performance, and changes to the outlook for the balance of 2019, we now expect full-year EPS to be between $3.00 and $3.20, excluding restructuring, transformation investments, and other unusual items, on net sales of approximately $4.4 billion. As a result of our updated earnings outlook, we are adjusting our full year free cash flow guidance to approximately $110 million. Looking ahead to 2020, we are operationally planning for sales to be approximately 10-percent lower than 2019 due to the softening macro environment for industrial equipment.”
