This summary is based on the first quarter fiscal 2008 earnings call conducted The Manitowoc Company (MTW: chart) on April 29, 2008.

Management:

President and CEO: Glen E Tellock
Sr. VP and CFO: Carl J Laurino
Sr. VP MTW & GM Manitowoc Crane Group: Eric Etchart
Director of IR & Corporate Communications: Steven C. Khail

Key Investor Issues:

- Quarterly EPS increased 56% from last year quarter to 78 cents for the current quarter.
- Net sales for the quarter rose by $237.9 million from last year quarter of $862.1 million.
- The EPS guidance for full year 2008 is in the range of $3.20 to $3.40.

First-Quarter Financial Highlights

The company set records for net sales and EPS, as each of the company’s three business segments showed solid improvements in net sales and operating earnings from Q1 of 2007.

- The Crane segment is one of the world’s leading providers of life solutions.
- The segment is capitalizing on very strong global demand for construction equipment.

- The Foodservice segment posted impressive sales growth and expanded margins in a challenging consumer spending environment.

- The Marine business continues to generate solid results, as its blend of government, commercial and repair projects make excellent use of its production facilities.

- The company also generated positive cash from operations of $11.8 million during the quarter.
- The economic value added increased more than 58% from last year and management continue to expect the full year EVA to increase by more than $90 million in 2008.
- The CapEx target of $120 million in 2008 is anticipated to provide additional capacity for crawler and mobile telescopic cranes in the U.S. and around the world.
- The company is continuing to incorporate significant outsourced manufacturing into the plans so that they quickly respond to forecast changes for specific components.

- The management expects some pressure on costs during 2008, as higher steel prices offset some of the improvements and efficiencies.
- The company will seek to offset the cost increases through the benefits of capacity expansions as well as pricing actions and escalator clauses, which the product has against the higher steel prices.

Performance Analysis of Business Segments

Crane Segment

- Q1 net sales increased 30% to $884.4 million compared with Q1 of 2007.
- The operating earnings for the first quarter of 2008 rose 40% to $134.6 million from $96.2 million in the same period last year.
- The quarterly operating margin was 15.2% versus 14.1% in the year ago quarter.
- The segment performance is a reflection of its strong global footprint and broad product line.
- The global demand for innovative, high-capacity lift equipment continues to be very strong.
- The business has the world’s most complete line of heavy-lift equipment and has expanded its leadership position with the introduction of the Model 31000 at ConExpo in March.
- This revolutionary crawler crane is capable of lifts in excess of 2,500 tons, more than 2.5 times greater than the current highest-capacity model.
- The first unit of the Model 31,000 will be ready for delivery in 2010.
- The Model 31,000 and other large crawlers are well suited for large infrastructure and energy projects.
- According to the World Nuclear Associations, there are 21 proposals for new or expanding nuclear power plants in the U.S. alone and the global total of 228 reactors.
- The management remains confident that the segment will achieve sales growth in excess of 20% in 2008 with margins in the mid-teens.

- At the ConExpo, the company had more traffic through its booth than even the 2005 show. Visits were from existing customers as well as new prospects in emerging markets like Latin America.
- The great interest at the ConExpo was partly because the company had the biggest new product introduction of all.
- Along with the Model 31,000, the company introduced 11 other new models and so there was something new for everyone.

- During the quarter, the business also expanded its ability to serve the growing truck crane market in Asia. The company acquired a JV interest in TaiAn Dongyue Heavy Machinery Company Limited.
- TaiAn Dongyue is a major player in the Chinese mobile hydraulic crane industry and China is by far the world’s largest market for truck cranes.
- According to the management, about 70% of all new truck cranes are sold in China.
- The business plans to leverage its existing technology in that category with its established Chinese partner to take part in the growing market.

- The management reported that Crane backlog totaled $3.3 billion at March 31, 2008. This is an increase of 72% from the same period last year.
- The backlog growth was driven by increased customer bookings in all geographic markets and in almost all product categories.
- The growth was especially strong in Europe and the Middle East where the high-capacity lifting equipment supports high-growth energy and infrastructure projects.
- The management reported that fleet utilization rates and rental fees are also beneficial in adding value to the crane segment.

Foodservice Segment

- Q1 revenue increased 7% to $104.1 million from $97 million in Q1 of 2007.
- The operating earnings for the quarter were $12.3 million, an increase of 13% from the same period last year and margins improved to 11.9%.
- The segment’s top line sales increase is in excess of current industry trends and was driven by the continued customer acceptance of recently introduced products such as IcePik and large capacity ice cubers.
- The margin improvement was delivered through a combination of increased absorption from greater volume, pricing actions and improved sourcing of key materials.