Spartan Motors has reported operating results for the fourth quarter and full year periods ending Dec. 31, showing sales increased $109 million, or 15.4 percent, to $816 million from $707 million. Net income declined $900,000, or 5.8 percent, to $15 million from $15.9 million.
Consolidated backlog totaled $359 million, up 11.9 percent, compared to $321 million at Dec. 31, 2017.
Highlights for the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the fourth quarter of 2017:
- Sales increased $51.9 million, or 28.7 percent, to $233 million from $181.1 million
- Net income declined $600,000, or 24.9 percent, to $1.8 million from $2.4 million
“Spartan generated strong top-line growth in 2018, driven by the performance of our fleet vehicles & services and specialty chassis & vehicles segments, despite second-half industry-wide headwinds that negatively impacted our profitability,” said Daryl Adams, president and CEO. “I am proud of the solid efforts from our Spartan team as we worked to mitigate the impact of these headwinds, which resulted in a better than expected fourth quarter.”
Specialty chassis & vehicles segment sales increased $34.4 million to $193.2 million, or 21.7 percent, from $158.8 million a year ago. Revenues were driven mainly by a $24.9 million increase in luxury motor coach chassis sales, due to increased unit volume driven by market share gains and continued industry demand.
The segment backlog at Dec. 31, totaled $37.7 million, up 11.4 percent, compared to $33.8 million at Dec. 31, 2017.
“The full-year performance of each of our business segments reflects the hard work and dedication of the entire team to overcome the industry-wide headwinds we faced in 2018,” said CFO Rick Sohm. “While we are aware a few of these industry challenges are expected to continue into 2019, we are optimistic about our ability to mitigate most of these challenges and improve the profitability of all three of our business segments. We remain encouraged by the strength of our backlog and the underlying business fundamentals.”
Outlook for full year 2019 is expected to be as follows:
- Revenue to be in the range of $865 to 905 million
- Net income of $19.5 – $22.6 million
- Effective tax rate of approximately 23 percent
