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    August 2001Volume 27 - Number 1    

Financial News     
    

Keystone RV Projects $50 Million Gain With New Lightweight Division

Keystone RV Company, Goshen, IN, announced in mid-May that the company is creating a new division with a projected first-year sales of $50 million. President and CEO Cole Davis said the company will develop an entirely new product line of lightweight travel trailers designed for towing with small SUVs and vans.

Industry veteran Randy Graber of Elkhart has joined Keystone's leadership team as vice-president, general manager of the new division. Graber was formerly national sales manager at KZ Incorporated, LaGrange County, IN.

According to Davis, Graber's division will employ construction techniques and materials which have not previously been used in Keystone's existing product lines, and some not used anywhere else in the RV industry.

To accommodate their growth, Keystone is building a 65,000 sq.-ft. plant for their Montana division, to be completed in November. At that time, the new division will move from temporary headquarters to the current Montana plant.

Fleetwood Reports Fourth Quarter Loss

Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: FLE) posted a worse-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter loss due to weakness in both its businesses and charges related to a restructuring.

Fleetwood's RV sales have been hit by declining consumer spending. The company reported a net loss for the quarter ended April 29 of $44.5 million or $1.36 per share, including a charge of 21 cents per share from goodwill impairment and restructuring. The company reported a profit of $11.4 million or 37 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Fleetwood said revenues fell 40% to $547 million from $905 million, in line with a company forecast. Wall street analysts had been expecting the company to post a fourth-quarter loss of 44 to 88 cents per share, with a mean estimate of 64 cents, according to research firm Thompson Financial/First Call.

For the fiscal year 2001, the company incurred a net loss of $284.0 million or $8.67 per diluted share, compared with a profit of $83.5 million or $2.41 per diluted share for the corresponding period in the prior year.

Fleetwood Declares Regular Dividend

The directors of Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: FLE) have declared the company's regular quarterly cash dividend of four cents per share of Common stock, payable August 8, 2001 to shareholders of record on July 6, 2001.

Thor Reports Net Income, Sales In Quarter, Nine Months

Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE; THO) announced results for the third quarter and nine months ended April 30, 2001.

Net income for the quarter was $6,731,000 compared to $10,090,000 last year. E.P.S. for the quarter were 57 cents versus 83 cents last year. Sales for the quarter were $221,029,000 compared to $250,120,000 last year.

Net income for the nine months was $18,286,000 compared to $26,460,000 last year. E.P.S. for the nine months were $1.54 versus $2.18 last year. Sales for the nine months were $604,031,000 compared to $674,439,000 last year.

RV sales in the quarter were $146,706,000 versus $196,327,000 last year.

Wade Thompson, Thor chairman, said, "RV industry unit sales have been down in each of the past eleven months but the rate of decline has decreased each month since the beginning of 2001."

Sales Down at SMC

Sales decreased 15.0% to $45.1 million for the first quarter of 2001 from $53.1 million for the comparable period in 2000. Sales decreased primarily in the high-end Safari lines. Beaver sales increased by approximately 20% primarily in the recently redesigned Monterey and Contessa models. Harney sales decreased as lower revenues were partially offset by higher revenues of the Renegade.

Retail sales for Class A units decreased by 7.2% in the first quarter of 2001 while the industry as a whole experienced a 25.1% decline. Gross profits were lower in the first quarter as a result of lower sales volumes.

Rexhall Industries Announces First Quarter Results

Rexhall Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: REXL) announced lower revenues and income for its first quarter ended March 31, 2001, compared to the first quarter of 2000.

Net revenues for the first quarter ended March 31, 2001 decreased 10.1% to $18,582,000 from $20,664,000 for the same quarter in 2000. Gross profit for the quarter was $2,505,000 versus $3,303,000 last year, which is a 24.2% decrease. Net income for the quarter was $119,000 or $0.04 per diluted share, compared with net income of $964,000 or $0.31 per diluted share last year.

Bill Rex, president and CEO, said, "Poor economic fundamentals continue to affect our industry. Shipments industry-wide were down 35% when comparing the first quarters of 2001 to 2000, with Rexhall's shipments being down 33%. However, we are encouraged by the recent interest rate decreases and the gains the major stock market indices have made. Hopefully, these will translate into stronger consumer confidence and spending."

Monaco Coach Posts Quarterly Report

Comparing the quarter ended April 1, 2000 to quarter ended March 31, 2001, first quarter net sales decreased 11.2% to $211.2 million compared to $238.0 million for the same period last year. Gross sales dollars on motorized products were down 10.9%, as increases in the company's products that were newly introduced in 2000 were more than offset by decreases in other motorized products. The company's gross towable sales were down only 2.7% as the McKenzie towable operations reported strong increases which nearly offset decreases on the Holiday Rambler towable products. The company's overall unit sales were down 18.3% in the first quarter of 2001 with motorized and towable unit sales down 21.1% and 13.0% respectively. The company's average unit gross selling price increased in the first quarter of 2001 to $94,000 from $86,000 in the comparable 2000 quarter due to the company's strong mix of diesel motor coaches. The company's continued mix of less expensive diesel and gasoline motor coaches is expected to keep the overall average selling price below $100,000.

Gross profit for the first quarter of 2001 decreased to $25.5 million, down from $37.3 million in 2000, and gross margin decreased from 15.7% in the first quarter of 2000 to 12.1% in the first quarter of 2001. Gross margin in the first quarter of 2001 was significantly impacted by above normal sales discounts, which net against gross sales. Other major contributors to the change in gross margin include production inefficiencies created from reduced production, shifting the volume among the production lines in the plants, and shifting the mix of products on those lines.

Coast Distribution Reports Loss In First Quarter

The Coast Distribution System, Inc. (AMEX: CRV) reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2001, and posted a loss. Coast lost $48,000, or $.01 per share, in the three months ended March 31, 2001 and earned $413,000, or $.10 per share, in the three months ended March 31, 2000.

Revenue for the first quarter of 2001 was $37.9 million as compared to $43.9 million for the first quarter of 2000

Tim McGuire, chairman and CEO of Coast, said, "Demand in both the RV and marine markets is substantially below last year and we expect it to continue to be soft for the remainder of the year. The supply chain strategies that we initiated during the last quarter of 2000 have begun to show results. As a consequence of these changes, we reduced our inventories by $8.5 million and correspondingly, our bank borrowings by $9.5 million when compared to March 31, 2000. Additionally, during the quarter we reduced general and administrative expenses by 12% when compared to the first quarter of 2000. However, we have yet to achieve the service levels we expect our strategies to yield in the second half of this year.

"We remain committed to reducing the assets and expenses required to run our business and more importantly, to gain a comparative service advantage in our markets going forward. Change is always difficult and carries a cost for everyone involved. We expect that there will be bumps in the road ahead but we strongly believe that we will be well positioned when our markets rebound."

 

 

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