Navistar International Corporation has announced a third quarter 2015 net loss of $28 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, compared to a third quarter 2014 net loss of $2 million, or $0.02 per diluted share.
Third quarter 2015 EBITDA was $106 million versus EBITDA of $142 million in the same period one year ago. The third quarter 2015 included certain net charges of $23 million, compared to benefits of $9 million in the third quarter of 2014. Excluding these items, adjusted EBITDA was $129 million in the third quarter 2015 compared to $133 million in the same period one year ago.
Revenues in the quarter were $2.5 billion. An increase in the company's truck, bus and parts sales in the U.S. and Canada was more than offset by lower export truck and parts sales, revenue declines in its global operations and exit from the Blue Diamond Truck joint venture. Retail deliveries and chargeouts in the company's core markets (Class 6 to 8 trucks and buses in the United States and Canada) were up 15% and 5%, respectively, year-over-year. Dealer-led sales are up 27% year-to-date through June.
"We are encouraged that overall, our core truck business continues to improve year-over-year, driven by steady and improving performance in medium, school bus and severe service, where we are on track to achieve our full-year market share goals," says Troy A. Clarke, Navistar President and Chief Executive Officer. "We're not standing still and we continue to take actions to improve both the revenue and cost sides of the business. We expect to achieve our 8% EBITDA margin run rate exiting 2015 thanks to the extraordinary, ongoing success we've had in addressing costs across our enterprise."
The company finished the quarter with $775 million in manufacturing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. Additionally, the company refinanced its existing term loan, improving its liquidity by $313 million and extending the maturity of the term loan until 2020.
During the quarter, Navistar continued its open technology integration strategy with its first-to-market announcement of the Eaton Procision dual-clutch transmission for International DuraStar medium-duty trucks and IC Bus CE Series school buses.
The company advanced its connected vehicle leadership with this week's announcement that International is the first truck maker to introduce over-the-air technology, which will reprogram the engine control modules of International trucks powered by its N9, N10 and N13 proprietary engines. Navistar announced a number of other connectivity firsts during the quarter aimed at driving uptime improvements and operational efficiencies for customers, including the industry's first telematics credit and the inclusion of its OnCommand Connection remote diagnostics system as a standard offering on all new International trucks and IC Bus brand school buses.
"We feel good about our position entering the 2016 buying season, especially with larger fleets," Clarke adds. "Jeff Sass, our new Head of Sales, has brought an even greater sense of urgency and focused action in the first three months he has been on board. As a result, we're entering the buying season in conversations with all top-100 fleets—and we feel encouraged by the response we're getting."
In the quarter, the company announced a multi-year 9,000 truck order from Quality Companies—a subsidiary of Celadon. Quality Companies emphasized that the quality and fuel efficiency of new International ProStar models provide the lowest total-cost-of-ownership of any truck in its fleet.
The company also announced that it is pulling forward the next phase of its planned cost realignment and improvement actions in the areas of structural costs, materials costs and manufacturing costs.
"The cost efforts underway will enable us to become to be even more competitive in the marketplace," Clarke adds. "These actions will allow us to invest in key areas of the business, paving the way for Navistar to be profitable and cash flow positive in 2016 and better positioned as the truck market comes off its peak."
The company provided the following guidance for the fourth quarter:
- Q4-2015 EBITDA of $175 million – $225 million, excluding pre-existing warranty and one-time items.
- Q4-2015 manufacturing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities between$950 million to $1.05 billion.
Truck Segment — For the third quarter 2015, the Truck segment recorded a loss of $36 million, compared with a year-ago third quarter loss of $3 million. The Truck segment's loss increased, primarily driven by a benefit for adjustments to pre-existing warranties in the third quarter of 2014 and an increase in our used truck reserves of $10 million. In the third quarter of 2015, the Truck segment recorded charges for adjustments to pre-existing warranties of $3 million compared to a benefit for adjustments to pre-existing warranties of $32 million in the third quarter of 2014.
Parts Segment — For the third quarter 2015, the Parts segment recorded a profit of $151 million, up 10% compared to third quarter 2014, primarily due to margin improvements in our commercial markets and the impact of cost improvement initiatives.
Global Operations Segment — For the third quarter 2015, the Global Operations segment recorded a loss of $26 million compared to a year-ago third quarter loss of $21 million. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to the economic downturn in Brazil with South American engine shipments down 42% year-over-year, restructuring charges, and related reductions-in-force; unfavorable movements in foreign currency exchange rates and $3 million in impairment charges.
Financial Services Segment — For the third quarter 2015, the Financial Services segment recorded a profit of $26 million compared to third quarter 2014 profit of $24 million, reflecting an increase in revenue and a decrease in the provision for loan losses which were offset by lower interest income from intercompany loans.
