JLG’s access equipment sales to external customers jumped 73.8 percent to $505.1 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 compared to the prior year’s fiscal first quarter. The company posted double-digit sales increases in all regions of the world and across all product lines. JLG’s results were driven by replacement of aged equipment in North America and parts of Europe as well as economic growth and increased product adoption in emerging markets.
In addition to sales to external customers, access equipment segment sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 and 2011 included sales related to production of M-ATV units for parent company Oshkosh Corp.’s defense segment of $122.6 million and $36.7 million, respectively. Including sales to the defense segment, access equipment segment sales increased 91.8 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 compared with the previous year’s quarter.
The access equipment segment reported operating income of $13.1 million, or 2.1 percent of sales, for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 compared to an operating loss of $16.7 million, or 5.1 percent of sales, in the prior-year quarter. The increase in operating results reflected higher volume with external customers and lower facility rationalization costs, which were largely offset by an increase in raw material costs and increased new product development spending.
Overall for Oshkosh Corp., fiscal 2012 first-quarter net income was $38.9 million, or 42 cents per diluted share, compared to $99.6 million or $1.09 per diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, a 156-percent plunge. Consolidated net sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 were $1.88 billion, an increase of 10.5 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year. Higher medium tactical vehicle sales and increased demand for aerial work platforms and telehandlers were offset by expected declines in sales of heavy tactical vehicles and aftermarket parts for the MRAP-all terrain vehicle.
Consolidated operating income in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 was $75.3 million or 4 percent of sales compared to $168.7 million or 9.9 percent in the year-ago quarter.
“Our access equipment segment reported strong orders in the first quarter, and we expect our previously announced 5-percent price increase will benefit margins in this segment during the remainder of fiscal 2012,” said Oshkosh Corp. president and CEO Charles Szews.
