A stubborn retail environment is blamed for a dip in revenue at Winnebago Industries. The outdoor lifestyle products manufacturer, with Iowa recreational vehicle factory locations in Forest City, Lake Mills, Charles City and Waverly, reports revenue for the fourth quarter was $771 million, down nearly 35% compared to the same period a year ago.
Winnebago CEO Michael Happe says the recreational consumer market continues to be challenging. “The tumultuous consumer outdoor market which characterized Fiscal Year 2023 for our company continued as expected into the fourth quarter, as lower dealer deliveries and modest retail demands persisted across the RV and marine industries.”
Fiscal 2023 revenues of $3.5 billion dropped almost 30% compared to Fiscal 2022, primarily due to lower unit sales related to retail market conditions and higher discounts and allowances compared to the prior year. Happe says the company continues to see the benefits of a diversified portfolio.
“Our results reflect a resilient profitability of our diversified business model in a challenging demand environment,” Happy says. “Despite a softening in unit sales, the towable RV and marine segments in particular continued their track record of profitability and margin performance.” Happe says the addition of the Newmar and Grand Design recreational vehicle brands, as well as the Chris-Craft and Barletta boat companies during his tenure as CEO, have been positive for the company, despite the drop in revenue for the fiscal year.
“I am incredibly pleased that the foundation of the transformed company we have built over the last seven years can produce the results we just completed in a difficult market environment,” Happe says. “We’ve remained committed to the continuous improvement of our bottom line, with a focus on operational excellence, further work on productivity, cost containment, and fix overhead rationalization.”
Happe says RV retail market share performance declined slightly in the fourth quarter but there were some positive signs toward the end of the quarter. “This trend has been anticipated, and we were recently pleased to see August RV market share results be much steadier than in past months, a good sign of things to come,” he says. “Grand Design, Winnebago towables and Newmar all gained share in the standalone August month.”
Fourth quarter profit for the company was nearly $44 million, with profit for the fiscal year of almost $216 million.
(By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City)