Wabash National reported a net loss of $3.2 million, or $0.11 per share for the second quarter of 2008 on net sales of $201.5 million. For the same quarter last year, the company reported net income of $5.9 million or $0.18 per diluted share, on revenue of $294.8 million.
For the six months ended June 30, 2008, the net loss totaled $9.6 million, or $0.32 per share on sales of $362.5 million. In the comparable period of 2007, the company reported net income of $6.9 million or $0.22 per diluted share on sales of $553.7 million.
"Our second-quarter results were generally in line with our previously stated expectations,” said Dick Giromini, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Despite increasing raw material costs, we were able to achieve incremental improvement in our gross margin when compared to the first quarter of 2008. Our efforts to bring capacity in line with demand, right-size our operating footprint and optimize our strategic pricing and sourcing efforts continue to positively impact our operating results.
"The prolonged residential housing correction and macroeconomic and industry-related headwinds continued to impact carrier and trailer demand during the second quarter. As a result, we now anticipate new trailer sales for the year to be in the range of 32,000 to 33,000 units, of which we have shipped or have orders for delivery for 2008 of approximately 29,000 units. As of June 30, our backlog was approximately $393 million compared to $537 million at March 31.
"Despite the near-term challenges, we are beginning to see encouraging signs for the future, such as the rightsizing of carrier capacity and an improving rate environment which bode well for our customers and will eventually increase demand for our core trailer product. More importantly, we have made good progress on our strategic initiatives, designed to diversify our business model to counter the cyclical nature of the trailer industry."