Marvin Rush
Analyst · Credit Suisse. Your line is now open
As indicated in our news release, we achieved revenues of $1.03 billion and net income of $10.8 million or $0.27 per diluted share. Our results this quarter include restructuring charge of $900,000 relating to dealership consolidations and real estate impairment. As expected, continued softness in the energy sector, a choppy freight environment, excess Class 8 fleet vehicle capacity, and declining used truck values negatively impacted our financial results this quarter. In anticipation of these market conditions, we implemented significant and broad reaching expense reductions throughout the first half of the year. These include personnel and variable expense reductions and the previously announced consolidation of truck centers in eight states. While we were beginning to see the benefit from our expense management efforts, we do not expect to realize the full results of these actions until late of this year. In the aftermarket, our parts, service and body shop revenues were $328.7 million, down 7% over the same timeframe in 2015 and our absorption ratio was 110.3%. Our results continue to be impacted by softness in the energy sector in the central United States. In addition, truck center consolidations that occurred in May and June and the overall decline in the Class 8 truck market further impacted by our aftermarket sales in the second quarter. We expect our aftermarket growth profit per day average to remain at the same pace like the second quarter performance through the rest of this year. Despite market headwinds, we remain committed to our long-term strategic growth initiatives in the areas of all-makes parts, service technology and natural gas fuel systems and believe we will begin to see results from these initiatives next year. In the interim, we continue to diligently manage operating expenses and aggressively pursue opportunities for increased aftermarket business. In the area of truck sales, U.S. Class 8 retail sales were down 23% over the second quarter of 2015, while our Class 8 truck sales decreased 45% over the same time period, accounting for 4.9% of the total U.S. Class 8 market. Our Class 8 new truck sales were severely impacted by reduced demand from several of our large fleet customers along with the overall sluggish Class 8 truck market this quarter. In addition, an oversupply of Class 8 used trucks across the country, reduced demand for used vehicles and less opportunity for export, have caused used truck values to decline at a faster than historical depreciation rates impacting both new and used Class 8 truck sales. For 2016, ACT Research forecasts U.S. Class 8 retail sales will be 201,500, that’s 20% decrease compared to 2015. We expect our Class 8 truck sales will continue to be impacted by market conditions and remain at current levels through year-end. Turning to medium-duty; we sold 2,792 Class 4-7 trucks new trucks in second quarter, down 4% from the same timeframe in 2015, but accounting for 4.9% of the total U.S. market. Our medium-duty business while solid was down slightly due to the timing of several large fleet deliveries earlier this year. However, we continue to see demand for our ready-to-roll equipment from a range of market segments across the country, allowing us to meet customers’ immediate demand. In the second quarter, we added Ford trucks to our product line up in Las Vegas, Nevada, expanding our medium-duty offering across the South-western United States. ACT Research forecasts U.S. Class 4-7 retail sales will be 230,200 units in 2016, a 5.5% increase compared to 2015. We believe our Class 4-7 new truck sales will remain flat with our second quarter performance for the reminder of the year. In closing, I’m thankful to our employees for remaining focused on our customers, as well as our long-term initiatives while managing expenses across the organization. Their commitment is sincerely appreciated as we work through this challenging time. With that, I will take your questions.