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Travel
trailer
sales
"disappointing",
motorhome
sales
up
3rd
quarter
fiscal
2007 results
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Fleetwood
announced
on
March
8th,
2007,
results
for
the
fiscal
third
quarter
and
first
nine
months
ended
January
28,
2007.
You
can
read
the
full
press
release
here,
but
the
following
are
some
key
aspects,
particularly
about
their
RV
business::
- The
company
reported
a
loss
of
$29.9
million
compared
with
a
profit
of
$1.4
million
during
the
same
period
a
year
ago
- The
RV
Group
incurred
an
operating
loss
of
$15.8
million
for
the
third
quarter,
compared
to
operating
income
of
$3.8
million
in
the
comparable
period
of
the
prior
year
- The
motor
home
division
earned
$5.3
million
in
the
quarter
compared
to
an
operating
loss
of
$4.1
million
in
the
third
quarter
last
year,
primarily
due
to
a
26
percent
increase
in
revenues
-
The
travel
trailer
division
incurred
an
operating
loss
of
$17.5
million
compared
to
operating
income
of
$11.2
million
in
the
prior
year,
with
revenues
dropping
52
percent
to
$81.8
million.
Travel
trailer
revenues,
excluding
those
generated
by
the
sale
of
FEMA
units,
were
down
16
percent
"Results
from
our
travel
trailer
operations
were
disappointing,
but
we
are
in
a
transition
period,"
Fleetwood's
President
and
CEO
Elden
L.
Smith
said.
"We
have
made
substantial
progress
in
the
realignment
of
our
product
mix
across
manufacturing
facilities,
resulting
in
higher
labor
efficiencies
since
implementation
in
early
January
2007.
The
next
phase
of
this
improvement
process
was
to
evaluate
our
capacity
needs,
particularly
in
light
of
the
recent
softening
of
the
travel
trailer
market,
and
in
early
March
we
began
the
process
of
discontinuing
production
in
three
travel
trailer
facilities.
There
will
be
some
transition
costs
in
connection
with
these
changes,
but
the
longer-term
benefits
will
far
outweigh
them.
"On
the
positive
side,
revenues
in
our
motor
home
business
were
up
significantly,
leading
to
a
profitable
quarter,"
Smith
continued.
"Our
unit
shipments
increased
13
percent,
while
industry
shipments
of
Class
A
and
Class
C
units
for
approximately
the
same
three-month
period
were
down
slightly.
In
addition,
as
of
the
end
of
the
quarter,
the
motor
home
division
had
its
highest
backlog
since
April
2004.
Nevertheless,
our
optimism
about
the
near-term
future
is
somewhat
tempered,
due
to
recent
stock
market
volatility,
which
has
affected
RV
sales
in
the
past,
as
well
as
mixed
attendance
and
sales
results
from
the
retail
shows
so
far
in
2007."
You
can
read
the
full
press
release
here
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