Wabash National Corporation today announced that net sales for the quarter were $294 million, compared to $277 million for the same period last year.
Net income for the quarter was $24 million or $0.66 per diluted share, compared to $20 million or $0.62 per diluted share for the year ago period. For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, net sales were $873 million compared to $754 million for 2004. Net income for the nine months of 2005 totaled $91 million or $2.50 per diluted share, compared to $45 million or $1.42 per diluted share for the same period last year. Included in the 2005 quarter and year-to-date results were reversals of a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets amounting to $6 million or $0.17 per diluted share and $36 million or $0.94 per diluted share, respectively.
Commenting on the quarter, Bill Greubel, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "Results were adversely impacted by a shortfall in unit shipments, customer and product mix, and manufacturing performance. Units shipped were at the low end of the expected range as we and our customers confronted logistics and high fuel costs associated with the Gulf hurricanes. Product mix was skewed to lower margin product. Seasonally strong core accounts represented 42 percent of units sold. Although manufacturing productivity for the third quarter declined slightly compared to the second quarter, corrective actions initiated in June have gained significant traction beginning in early September and have since registered the highest levels of productivity and the lowest levels of overtime since June. Shippable units improved substantially over the course of the quarter with a corresponding decrease of in-process units in inventory. This improvement has continued in October. The retail side of our business recorded its third consecutive profitable quarter."
"Quote and order activity during the quarter was stronger than seasonal patterns. Backlog grew over $100 million versus the previous quarter to $490 million. We continue to have great success in growing our customer base with over 500 new accounts closed through the first nine months of 2005. We intend to manage production, inventory and shipments throughout the quarter to achieve our customer requirements of 15,500 units."