Winnebago Industries reports its best-ever second quarter. Net income for the Forest City-based motor home maker was $22.1 million, an increase of almost 45% compared to the same period a year ago.
President and CEO Michael Happe says the second quarter marked another period of solid, consolidated results for the company. “Our second quarter performance continues to reflect the journey we are on here at Winnebago Industries to build a more robust, balanced, increasingly profitable overall business model,” Happe says. “Much has changed in recent quarters at Winnebago Industries and our results this period are both a reflection of those accomplishments but they also highlight that we continue to have unfinished work to do.”
Second quarter revenues for the motor home segment of the business were up 1.5% from the previous year, while the towable segment for the company was up over 55% with the combination of the Winnebago and Grand Design branded lines. “This will be a net positive journey we believe,” Happe says. “We are pleased with our consolidated results in the second quarter, which are record numbers on both the top line and in profit generated.
Overall strong sales growth and meaningful margin improvement for the company were hallmarks of this quarter, certainly highlighted and generated by our growth in the towables segment. Another reflection in what’s changed in the last two years.”
Happe says he’s proud of the significant progress the company has made in the towables segment of the industry in the 18 months since acquiring the Grand Design brand.
“The Grand Design acquisition has been strategic and effective, and our own Winnebago brand of towables business is growing rapidly as well,” Happe says. “In an industry where 85-percent-plus of the units are towables, we have advanced our segment share from less than one-percent market share at the beginning of 2016, to somewhere in the mid-single digits presently, and most importantly doing that with favorable margins. We are optimistic about the ability of our towables businesses to make materially more progress in the market and help generate net-positive results for the company in the future.”
Winnebago reported revenue for the quarter rose over 26% to $468.3 million, up from $370.5 million last year.
(By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City)