Wabash National president/CEO William P. Greubel said the company’s fourth-quarter and year-end results were “gratifying.”
Net sales for the fourth quarter were $287.4 million, compared to $219.8 million for the same period last year. Net income for the quarter was $13 million, compared to a loss of $1.7 million for the same period last year.
For the year ended December 31, 2004, net sales were $1.041 billion, compared to $888 million for 2003. Net income for fiscal year 2004 totaled $58 million, compared to a net loss of $57 million in 2003.
"Accomplishments for the year and quarter are very gratifying as solid results were obtained despite dramatic increases in raw materials prices,” Greubel said. “We successfully passed along the vast majority of these costs. We have earned a substantial and growing presence with the mid market fleet operators. We are positioned to undertake additional operational improvement initiatives that will reduce our overall costs. Most gratifying of all was our ability to pay down all of our bank debt by year-end, reducing debt by over $300 million in the last three years.
“We approach 2005 with equal amounts of optimism and caution. Industry demand is strong and growing, but pricing concerns continue. We will continue to seek to create shareholder value by striving to improve the productivity of our plants and retail operations and growing our market share."