Navistar, parent company of the International brand recently reintroduced into the Australian market, has reported a net loss of close to $AUD95 million in the first quarter, but has raised its full year 2018 guidance and has grown its revenue 15 per cent to $AUD2.4 billion in the quarter.
The poor result in the first quarter did include $AIUD58 million in charges relating to debt refinancing prompting its CEO to make soime confident assessments about the year ahead.
“We are off to a strong start in 2018 thanks to our ability to grow Navistar’s position in a strengthening market,” said Troy Clarke, chairman, president and CEO.
“We grew our Class 8 market share and improved our margins, on the way to delivering our best first quarter on an adjusted EBITDA basis since 2011,” he added.
Class 8 heavy charge-outs were up 58 per cent year-on-year, and its market share improved 1.2 per cent, the company reported.
“Our improvement this year is due largely to the market’s positive reaction to our new products, including the LT Series on highway prime mover and the 13-litre A26 engine,” Clarke said.
“In fact, the strong interest in our A26 engine has us nearly doubling our share of trucks with 13-litre engines in the first quarter of 2018 compared to a year ago.”
Navistar increased its 2018 full year expectation to an overall market of between 360,000 and 390,000 Class 6 to 8 trucks and buses in the U.S. and Canada, with Class 8 retail deliveries of between 235,000 and 265,000 units.
“We expect market conditions to remain robust and we are determined to take advantage of opportunities to grow share while delivering strong margin performance,” Clarke said.
“Given the progress made in Q1, and our positive outlook for the remainder of the year, we are confident that 2018 will be the breakout year for Navistar.”
