Harley-Davidson 1Q profits up

04/13/06 - newratings.com

NEW YORK, April 13 (newratings.com) - Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc (HDI) Wednesday reported 3% sequential growth in its first quarter earnings due to robust demand for its bikes in the overseas market.

The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company reported earnings of $234.6 million or 86¢ per share for the three months ended March 26, as compared to $227.2 million or 77¢ per share in the year-ago quarter. Harley-Davidson said that its sales for the first quarter rose to $1.29 billion, reflecting 4% growth, from $1.24 billion a year earlier. The results, which were in-line with the Wall Street expectations, were driven by the company’s robust performance in Japan and other international markets. The company’s domestic sales growth during the quarter were, however, one point lower than that of the industry.

Harley-Davidson has retained its shipment forecast of 348,000-352,000 bikes for the current year. The company has, however, indicated that 13,000 units produced during the second quarter would not be shipped until the next quarter, reflecting that shipments would be heavily back-end loaded.

Harley-Davidson’s share price fell $3.14, or about 6%, to close at $49.83 on the NASDAQ on Wednesday.