Sales surge at JLG

Sales at JLG increased by 18.4% to $1.16 billion in the third quarter of its 2018 financial year 2018, while backlog for the three-month period rose dramatically.

The increase in sales for Oshkosh Corporation’s access division was mainly thanks to increased demand for telehandlers and MEWPs, led by North America.

Operating income increased 14.7% to $149.3 million, or 12.9% of sales, in the third quarter of fiscal 2018, compared to $130.2 million, or 13.3% of sales, in the third quarter of fiscal 2017. ”Higher sales volumes were responsible for the rise, as was improved pricing, offset in part by challenges associated with ramping up production volumes, adverse customer and product mix, increased freight costs and the impact of unfavourable foreign exchange rates,” said the company in its financial statement. 

The third quarter results included pre-tax and restructuring charges of $6.9 million. Excluding these charges, adjusted operating income was $156.2 million, or 13.5% of sales, in the financial third quarter of 2018, compared to $140.8 million, or 14.4% of sales, in the third quarter of 2017.

Net sales across the nine-month period were $2,716.2 million, compared to $2,192.6 million in the same period last year. Backlog in the nine months rose even more significantly from $523 million to $1,225.7 million.

Wilson Jones, president and CEO of Oshkosh Corporation said, “Despite the uncertainty surrounding the impact of trade policies, market fundamentals for our businesses are positive. Combined with a strong pipeline of defense business and higher backlog in all segments compared to the prior year, we are confident as we head into the last quarter of our fiscal year. The challenges we noted last quarter still exist and continued to impact us in the third quarter. But, the team is making progress addressing these challenges and we expect solid results to close out fiscal 2018.