Navistar posts quarterly loss on lower truck sales

[June 07, 2017]  (Reuters) - Truck and engine maker Navistar International Corp posted a quarterly loss, compared with a year-ago profit, partly due to lower sales of its trucks in the United States and Canada and a $60 million charge related to used-truck inventories.

Navistar's shares were down about 9.5 percent in premarket trading on Tuesday.

Revenue in the company's truck business, its biggest, fell 5.5 percent to $1.40 billion in the second quarter ended April 30.

This comes despite a recent improvement in truck orders in the industry. Heavy truck orders had been declining as trucking companies adjusted their fleets amid lackluster retail sales and industrial output in the United States.

Navistar reaffirmed its revenue forecast for the year and said it expected a stronger second half.

"We are on track to improve on last year's results, but still have quite a bit of work to do in the second half," Chief Executive Troy Clarke said.

Revenue in the company's parts business also fell 5.7 percent to $610 million, hurt by lower sales at its joint venture with Ford Motor Co <F.N>, Blue Diamond Parts (BDP).

BDP manages the sourcing, merchandising and distribution of certain service parts Navistar sells to Ford in North America.

Lisle, Illinois-based Navistar, which was once a leading maker of truck engines, is in the process of turning itself around after making a disastrous bet on a costly and unsuccessful proprietary smog-reduction system that did not meet regulatory standards.

Exterior of Navistar office is seen in Lisle, Illinois, October 4, 2012. REUTERS/Jim Young

The company, which also makes school buses and dump trucks, has changed management, cut costs and redesigned its products, in a move to return to profitability.

Net loss attributable to the company was $80 million, or 86 cents per share, in the quarter, compared with a profit of $4 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier. (http://bit.ly/2sS8OuI)

Revenue fell 4.6 percent to $2.10 billion. The company reported a fall in revenue for the ninth straight quarter.

Up to Tuesday's close, Navistar's shares had fallen 4.6 percent this year.

(Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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