MAN Group’s interim report as of September 30, 2011 has shown an intact growth trend, although the group says the pace has slowed.
While order intake was slightly down on the previous two quarters at €4.1bn, it still remained higher than in all four quarters in 2010, with the aggregate figure for the first three quarters of 2011 up 18% year-on-year. The order backlog at the end of September was also higher than 2010 at €7.5bn.
Incoming orders at MAN Truck & Bus in the period from January to September were €7.0bn (up 23%) while at MAN Latin America they rose 17% to €2.8bn. MAN Diesel & Turbo also generated a clear 12% increase, to €2.9bn.
MAN boosted its revenue by 14% in the first nine months of the year to €12.0 bn. Third quarter revenue was up 7% year-on-year, at €4.0bn. The highest increases were recorded by the Commercial Vehicles business area, with the MAN Truck & Bus division revenue climbing 24% to €6.4bn.
The MAN Group boosted its operating profit by 49% in the first three quarters of the year to €1.1bn. The operating profit generated by Commercial Vehicles doubled to €694m, with the European market recording a particularly marked improvement. At €117m, third-quarter profit declined against a particularly strong second quarter, but was up 58% on the prior year quarter. The return on sales for MAN Truck & Bus after the first three quarters was 6.1%, compared with 1.4% in the prior year period.
MAN Latin America turned in a strong earnings performance. The division contributed almost onethird of the MAN Group’s operating profit for the first three quarters, at €303m, recording stable figures in the individual quarters. Its return on sales was 10.9%.
Georg Pachta-Reyhofen, CEO of MAN SE, said: “All this shows the uncertainty has yet to impact MAN. This stability is not a foregone conclusion, as the transport markets generally react early and clearly to economic fluctuations.
“2011 will be a good year for us. We are continuing to expect revenue growth of 10 to 15% for 2011 and a return on sales slightly in excess of our average long-term target of 8.5%. The medium-term trend continues to point upward.”
