Wabash Records Net Loss, Sharply Lower Revenue in Q2

Workers at a Wabash manufacturing plant. (Wabash National Corp.)

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Wabash National Corp. reported a second-quarter net loss and a drop in revenue amid COVID-19’s harsh effect on the trucking industry.

For the quarter ended June 30, Wabash posted a net loss of $146,000, or $0.00 per diluted share, compared with a profit of $30.9 million, or 56 cents, a year earlier.

Revenue plunged to $339 million from $626 million in the 2019 period.

Yeagy

“The second quarter was the most uniquely challenging time I’ve experienced in my career,” CEO Brent Yeagy said in a release. “Balancing continued operations to support our customers during a global pandemic while implementing meaningful short-term cost control measures as well as longer-term initiatives to optimize our organizational structure took a remarkable level of dedication from every level of our organization.”

He added, “To limit decremental margins [the change in operating profit divided by change in sales] to 15% during the second quarter reflects the dedication of our people as well as the long-term improvements we’ve made to our business portfolio and within our operating system.

“The cost reductions we’ve made allow us to control expense in the short-term while preserving the business’ ability to quickly accelerate when market conditions invariably improve.”

All business segments posted lower sales in the quarter.

Commercial trailer products sales were $232.3 million, a decrease of 42.1% compared with the prior-year quarter as a result of a reduction in market demand. Operating income was $18.6 million or 8% of sales during the quarter.

Diversified products’ sales for the second quarter were $64 million, a decrease of 34.1%, as a result of lower market demand. Operating income was $2.2 million or 3.5% of sales during the quarter.

Final-mile products’ sales for the second quarter totaled $50.8 million, a decrease of 62.3%, due to softer demand. Operating loss was $6.6 million during the quarter as a result of weaker volume leverage over fixed costs.

The number of new trailers shipped dropped to 8,000 compared with 14,250 a year earlier. Used trailers shipped hit 185 compared with none a year earlier.

The diversified products unit shipped 400 trailers compared with 750 a year earlier.

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The company’s order backlog fell to $750 million compared with $1 billion at the end of the first quarter. Wabash, in the release, noted normal seasonal trends indicate an expected sequential softening in backlog during the second quarter.

Liquidity as of the end of the second quarter was $304 million with cash of $136 million and a fully untapped revolving credit line of $168 million after repayment in the second quarter of a proactive drawdown of the credit line during the first quarter.

The company’s nearest debt maturity, amounting to $135 million, is in March 2022.

For the six-month period, Wabash posted a net loss of $106.7 million, or a loss of 5 cents, compared with a profit of $45.7 million, or 82 cents, in the 2019 quarter. Revenue dropped to $726 million compared with $1.1 billion.

Lafayette, Ind.-based Wabash manufactures products including dry freight and refrigerated trailers, platform trailers, bulk tank trailers, dry and refrigerated truck bodies, truck-mounted tanks and intermodal equipment.

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