(Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

By Rick Barrett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jul. 28--The Manitowoc Co. swung to a second-quarter loss on the sale of an ice machine business, restructuring and a 39 percent drop in crane sales.
The maker of construction cranes and food-service equipment reported a loss of $18.1 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with net income of $133.9 million, or $1.01 a share, a year earlier.
The net loss included a number of unusual items totaling about $43 million on an after-tax basis. Those items included a $23 million loss related to the sale of an ice-machine business and $14 million of restructuring charges.
Revenue declined 13 percent to just over $1 billion from $1.2 billion a year ago.
Crane sales were $652.3 million, down 39 percent from more than $1 billion a year earlier.
Food-service equipment sales more than tripled to $382.5 million from $127.3 million, primarily because of the acquisition of Enodis, a British equipment company.
"I am generally pleased with the progress that we are making in managing through these difficult times," Glen E. Tellock, Manitowoc's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a news release.
Before the announcement, Manitowoc shares closed at $6.57, up 4 cents.
Excluding the $23 million charge related to the sale of the ice machine business and $14 million of restructuring charges, Manitowoc said it earned 19 cents per share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were looking for a profit of 13 cents per share, excluding one-time items.
The order backlog in the company's crane segment totaled $901 million as of June 30, down 36 percent from the $1.4 billion backlog as of March 31.
"Obviously, crane demand continues to be weak across most of our markets," Tellock said. "The exceptions include portions of Asia, Latin America and Africa. We are also encouraged that overall new orders are continuing to exceed cancellations in terms of both unit and dollar volumes."
MANITOWOC CO.:
2nd quarter percent
06/30 2009 2008 change
Sales $1,034.8 $1,191.1 -13.1
Net income -18.1 133.9 n.a.
EPS (diluted) -0.14 1.01 n.a.
6 months
Sales $2,062.3 2,179.6 -5.4
Net income -674.4 236.6 n.a.
EPS (diluted) -5.18 1.79 n.a.
Figures in millions except for earnings per share. Percentages are based on unrounded sales and income figures.
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