Truck, schoolbus and diesel engine maker Navistar International Corporation has reported a smaller than expected first quarter loss.
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Navistar said its net loss for the quarter ended January 31, 2004, was $US23 million, or $0.34 per share, compared with a loss of $99 million, ($1.49a share) in the first quarter a year ago.
Navistar had earlier given guidance of a first quarter loss of between ($0.40) and ($0.50) per share while the average estimate of 10 security analysts was for a first quarter loss of ($0.44) per share.
Consolidated sales and revenues from the company’s manufacturing and financial services operations for the first quarter totaled $1.9 billion, compared with $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2003.
A spokesman said first quarter results reflect volume improvements spurred by strengthening industry demand coupled with the company’s on-going cost reduction and quality improvement programmes.
Manufacturing gross margin, boosted by an improving performance from truck operations, more than doubled to 12% from 5.3% a year ago.
The company has increasing its forecast for total industry sales from predictions made last December and now projects total truck industry retail sales volume for Class 6-8 and school buses in the United States and Canada for fiscal 2004 at 328,500 units, up from the previous forecast of 304,500 units and 25% above the 263,400 industry retail sales in fiscal 2003.
Heavy truck sales are expected to increase to 208,000 units from the previous forecast of 191,000 units, while sales of Class 6-7 medium trucks are estimated to increase to 93,000 units from the previous forecast of 86,000 units. Forecasted school bus volume is unchanged at 27,500 units.
Shipments of International medium and heavy trucks and school buses during the first quarter totalled 22,500 units, compared with 18,700 units in the first quarter of 2003.
Parts sales, aided by extreme winter weather in some areas of the United States, rose to $266 million from $238 million in the first quarter of 2003. Shipments of diesel engines to other original equipment manufacturers during the quarter totalled 74,500, up from 63,300 units in the first quarter of 2003.
