Oshkosh posts better than expected results

Oshkosh Corporation has reported fiscal 2010 third quarter net sales of US$ 2.44 billion and net income of US$ 211.2 million. This compares with net sales of US$ 1.22 billion and a loss of US$ 26.6 million in the same period last year.

Net sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2010 (to June 30) doubled compared with the previous third quarter, mainly thanks to US$ 1.08 billion of sales under the M-ATV (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected - All Terrain Vehicle) contract, including related aftermarket parts & service sales, said the company.

Access equipment sales increased +77% to US$ 373.9 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 compared with the prior year third quarter. The access equipment segment experienced increases in sales in all major markets, with the largest increases in North America and Latin America.

While North American sales remain significantly lower than historical levels due to weak construction markets and tight credit, sales have begun to recover from historic lows. Third quarter fiscal 2010 access equipment segment sales also included US$ 316.0 million of intersegment M-ATV related sales to the defence segment as it continued to leverage underutilized facilities in the access equipment segment to meet defence production requirements.

In total, segment sales increased +226.6% to US$ 689.9 million compared with the previous year's quarter.

Commenting on the results, Robert G. Bohn, Oshkosh Corporation chairman and CEO said, "Our dedicated and committed employees worked hard to deliver third quarter records for revenue, operating income and EPS, led once again by strong performance in our defense segment.

"We further improved our balance sheet during the quarter with debt reduction of US$ 175 million. Over the past two years we have retired US$ 1.5 billion of debt as a result of strong free cash flow and US$ 358 million of proceeds from a stock offering.

"Debt reduction will remain the primary use for free cash flow by Oshkosh for the near term.

"This quarter, we commenced low rate production of access equipment in our newly constructed Tianjin, China facility. We expect to gradually ramp up production in this facility over the next 12 months to serve Asian markets as access equipment becomes accepted as a productivity and safety tool for construction and industrial markets in this region.