Navistar reports a fourth quarter 2013 net loss of $154 million, or $1.91 per diluted share. But still, that's good when compared to the fourth quarter 2012 when Navistar reported a net loss of $2.8 billion, or $40.13 per diluted share.
"Clearly, we are disappointed that our previous engine strategy continues to negatively impact us in the form of additional warranty expense, but we will continue to stand behind our products and manage this issue as these engines work their way through the standard and extended warranty cycles," said Troy Clarke, Navistar's president and chief executive officer.
"We're not letting it overshadow the strong progress we've made to fundamentally change Navistar's operations and culture in 2013. We still have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we are pleased to be entering 2014 in a much stronger position than we were one year ago."
Revenues in Q4 of 2013 were $2.8 billion, down from $3.2 billion in Q4 of 2012. The decrease reflects lower sales across all business segments, primarily due to weaker industry conditions and lower market share during the company's emissions strategy transition, Navistar said in an official release.
The company claims to have reduced its structural costs by $94 million in the quarter compared to fourth quarter 2012, and finished the full year with reduced structural costs of $330 million versus 2012.
"Operationally, we hit our plan this quarter, and we ended the year with an order backlog that is up 26 percent compared to this time last year. Those are just two examples of the continued progress we are making on our Drive to Deliver turnaround plan," Clarke said. "During the quarter, we strengthened our cash position, continued to reduce structural costs, completed our on-highway Class 8 transition to SCR emissions technology, and progressed with our medium-duty product transition launches, resulting in 500 medium duty SCR trucks and buses built this month, as planned."
The net loss for fiscal year 2013 was $898 million versus a net loss of $3 billion for fiscal year 2012.
For 2014, Navistar is forecasting a Class 8 industry of 220,000 to 230,000 retail sales in the U.S. and Canada and expects to have an additional $175 million in structural cost savings.
The company expects to end first quarter 2014 with manufacturing cash and marketable securities between $1 billion and $1.1 billion.
"Traditionally, our first quarter represents the low period of the year as volumes are lower due to the Thanksgiving and winter break downtimes, which is compounded this year by significantly lower military sales and the late-in-the-quarter ramp up of our Cummins ISB engine offering in our medium-duty trucks and buses," Clarke said.
"However, we anticipate stronger year-over-year performance starting in the second quarter, driven by higher volumes in truck, parts and our global operations and slightly improved pricing, coupled with ongoing structural and material cost improvements."
