Mark Pigott
Analyst · Cleveland Research
Good morning. PACCAR reported excellent revenues and net income for the second quarter of 2011. PACCAR's second quarter sales and Financial Services revenues were $3.9 billion compared to $2.4 billion in the second quarter of 2010. Quarterly net income increased to $240 million, more than double the $100 million earned a year ago. I'm very proud of our 22,000 employees who have delivered excellent performance to our shareholders and customers. PACCAR's results reflect the benefits of higher truck deliveries in North America and Europe and continued improvement in aftermarket part sales and Financial Services worldwide. As a result of the improving business conditions, PACCAR's board recently approved a 50%, 5-0%, increase in the regular quarterly dividend to $0.18 from $0.12 per share, in line with the amount paid prior to the recession. And we want to especially thank our shareholders for their support. In the U.S. and Canada, the truck industry orders in the second quarter of 2011 increased to 68,000 units compared to 65,000 during the first quarter. U.S. and Canadian retail truck sales are estimated to improve in 2011 to a range of 180,000 to 220,000 units from 126,000 units last year. That's a 50% increase from last year and also reflects the industry retail sales of about 84,000 units for the first 6 months of this year. We have lowered our industry retail sales forecast range in North America due to the uneven economic conditions and supplier capacity constraints, specifically tires and chassis components. The European truck registrations for the second quarter were 63,000 units, a slight increase on the first quarter registrations of 59,000. We estimate that Europe's greater than 15-tonne truck market will be between 230,000 to 250,000 units this year versus 183,000 units last year. That's a 30% increase year-on-year. Looking at the 2 markets, there may be some questions about the health of the suppliers, and I would just remind you that in North America, our 2 largest car manufacturers, General Motors and Chrysler, went bankrupt during the recession, and as a result, the entire supplier industry suffered, whereas in Europe, although they had slower car sales because of actions by various governments, employment was able to be retained. There was no housing bubble, and as a result, suppliers are in much better shape in Europe. The improving global economy is benefiting the truck market but is also increasing the material cost from suppliers. Aftertreatment, cooling, electrical, filtration, precious metals, such as platinum and palladium and overall emission-related costs of approximately $15,000 in North America in the last 5 years have impacted our entire industry's margins as the transportation industry is not able to fully absorb these additional costs. That's the price of doing business in our industry. PACCAR's truck sales increased 26% from the first quarter and part sales increased by 4%. These 2 positive results generated increased net income but did reduce the overall gross margins due to the higher proportion of truck sales compared to parts. Continuing with good news, PACCAR has increased truck production of all truck plants in North America and Europe to meet higher levels of demand. The improved market pricing and factory productivity generated higher quarterly truck gross margins of 8.1% in the second quarter compared to 5% a year ago. And looking ahead, PACCAR estimates that we'll deliver 5% to 10% more trucks in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, subject to suppliers’ ability to meet industry demand. PACCAR's strong balance sheet and excellent operating cash flow have allowed the company to accelerate its investments to enhance operating efficiency and develop innovative new products, such as PACCAR's MX diesel engine, and I know a number of you were able to read the latest Forbes Magazine article that had highlighted PACCAR as one of the top 50 innovative companies of today and tomorrow, a nice reflection on what we've done for 105 years. We’ve received over 18,000 orders for our MX engine in North America, and the engine is being installed in about 25% of Kenworth and Peterbilt heavy-duty trucks. Feedback continues to be excellent from our customers. PACCAR Financial services revenues were $258 million in the second quarter compared to $239 million a year ago. PACCAR Financial's second quarter pretax income improved to $57 million compared to $34 million earned a year ago. This was due to better finance margins and a reduction in the provision for credit losses. The credit loss provision for the second quarter of 2011 were $11 million compared to $17.4 million a year ago. Another piece of good news, past dues fell to 2.2%, their lowest level since the first quarter of 2008, over 3 years ago. And finally, during the quarter, PACCAR made good progress in its search for a DAF factory site in Brazil. I note that many of our competitors continue to highlight Brazil as being their most profitable industry area. We look forward to joining them, and our goal is for DAF to achieve a 10% share of the Brazilian truck market in the medium term. Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.