Manitowoc Company split remains on schedule
MANITOWOC – Manitowoc Company officials said Thursday that the firm remains on target to split its Foodservice and Cranes divisions into separate companies in the first quarter of 2016.
Company officials briefly discussed the split during a conference call with stock analysts following the company's second-quarter earnings release, saying they hope to name the first level of management at the new companies within the next month or so.
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"We're in the execution phase now, and you'll see more as we go through the quarter," said Glen E. Tellock, the company's chairman and CEO, referring to preparations for the split.
Among those leaders is Hubertus M. Muehlhaeuser, who was named CEO of the Foodservice segment on Wednesday.
Muehlhaeuser will join the company on Aug. 3. In his most recent corporate position, he was senior vice president and general manager for Europe, Africa and the Middle East at AGCO Corp., a global farm equipment producer, according to a news release.
"He's basically jumping in feet first and putting his mark on the Foodservice business from day one," Tellock said during a question-and-answer session with analysts.
Earlier in the day, the company reported net income of $23.3 million in the second quarter of 2015, compared to $46.6 million during the same period in 2014.
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Tellock called it a "challenging" quarter negatively impacted by unfavorable foreign exchange rates and depressed oil and gas markets.
Tellock said the company saw continued weakness in its rough-terrain and boom truck markets and lower capital expenditures by large food service chains.
Company officials added that they're optimistic that Foodservice has turned the corner, but at best, they don't expect a "material improvement" in the Cranes segment until 2016.
The company has cut its full-year guidance and now expects Crane revenue to see a double-digit decline, with Foodservice revenue remaining flat.
The company is Manitowoc County's largest business, with nearly $4 billion in revenue in 2014 and about 1,000 employees locally.
Following the announcement earlier this year of the company's plans to split the business in two, Tellock said the move would "position the businesses to take advantage of anticipated long-term improvement in demand and other opportunities in their respective markets."
The Cranes division is among the world's largest providers of crawler, tower and mobile cranes for the heavy construction industry. The Foodservice business manufactures commercial foodservice equipment for restaurants, convenience stores, hotels, hospitals and other institutions.
— Reach Josh Lintereur at 920-453-5147 or jlintereur@gannett.com