Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO) reported fourth-quarter and full-year figures Thursday.
The sole owner of operating subsidiaries, that combined, represent the world’s largest manufacturer of recreational vehicles, reported all-time records in the Company’s history: Net sales increased 14.9% to $8.33 billion.
Gross profit increased 11.6% to $1.16 billion. Income before taxes increased 13.8% to $633.0 million. Cash flow from operating activities increased 11.3% to $466.5 million
Net sales increased 17.2% for the Towable segment, 8.9% for the Motorized segment and 14.9% overall. Overall gross profit margin decreased to 14.0% from 14.4% in the prior year.
CEO Bob Martin said. "We leveraged the strength in retail demand to drive year-over-year growth in both our top and bottom lines. We experienced a solid increase in gross margins in the first half of the year due to strong sales growth, as well as achieving operating and process improvements, primarily by Jayco.
"During the second half of the year, however, we reduced our production levels, lowered wholesale shipments and increased dealer incentives in order to balance dealer inventories, resulting in modest net revenue growth.
"Also, during the second half, we lapped the Jayco prior-year process improvements and experienced increased labor, warranty and material costs, resulting in the modest decrease of 40 basis points on our full-year gross margin."
For the fourth quarter, net sales decreased 3.1% to $1.87 billion, while gross profit decreased 18.9% to $244.4 million, and income before taxes decreased 29.3% to $124.3 million
Shares withereed $10.60, or 10%, to $95.04
