Skyjack’s Q2 sales increase

The industrial division of Canadian company Linamar, which largely includes Skyjack, saw sales increase 48.6% or CN$48.6 million from Q2 2011 to CN$148.6 million. The sales increase was "primarily due to significant increases in demand in the access equipment markets resulting from fleet replacement initiatives," Linamar said in a statement.

"We are delighted to register another record quarter in Q2 on both sales and earnings," said Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz. "Earnings growth is outpacing sales growth by a factor of 3, the Industrial segment continues to perform very well and we continue to see great improvements in ROCE and ROE. In addition with a solid quarter of free cash flow we continue to drive a very strong balance sheet at Linamar. Our launches are driving great growth in the near term, and our competitive strength and an opportunistic market is helping us build for long term sustainable growth at Linamar."

As a whole, Linamar saw first half sales increase by 19 percent to CN$1.69 billion, with a pre-tax profit of CN$55.2 million, up by 52 percent compared to last year.