International Segment is Strongest for Titan Machinery in Fiscal Q1
Titan Machinery revenue continues to decline although with company restructuring margins are improving. For the first quarter of fiscal 2018, ended April 30, revenue was $264.1 million, compared to $284.9 million in the first quarter a year ago, a 7.3-percent decline. Revenue from “rental and other” was $10.9 million for the quarter compared to $11.5 million in the year-ago period, a 5.2-percent decrease. The company’s International segment was the high point with fiscal first quarter revenue of $37.1 million compared to $28.1 million in the year-ago quarter, a 32-percent leap.
Gross profit for the quarter was $48.9 million compared to $53.5 million in the year-ago frame. Pre-tax loss in the construction segment was $2.6 million, compared to $2 million a year ago.
“Overall first quarter financial results were generally in line with our expectations,” said David Meyer, Titan Machinery chairman and CEO. “Due to the stabilizing Agriculture equipment inventory environment and the progress we have made in reducing our equipment inventory, we are seeing equipment margin improvement sooner than originally expected, as well as stronger equipment demand within our International segment. Offsetting these developments were higher than anticipated operating expenses due to delayed benefits resulting from our restructuring efforts.
“We are confident in our estimate that the restructuring anticipated initiative will results in annual expense reductions of $25 million, however due to later than anticipated implementation, the cost savings for fiscal 2018 will be less than previously expected. We continue to be well positioned for improved bottom line results in fiscal 2018 despite continued soft demand in our domestic Agriculture and Construction markets. In addition, our restructuring efforts and continued focus on reducing equipment inventory positions us well for the future.”
Titan Machinery, an agriculture and construction dealership with a rental program, is headquartered in West Fargo, N.D., and is No. 44 on the RER 100.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.