Lippert reported 2023 first-quarter financial results Tuesday, finding total sales down 41% from the first quarter of 2022. RV OEM net sales fell 62% in the quarter from the first quarter of 2023.
Despite the sales drops, Lippert remained profitable in the first quarter of 2023. Net income totaled $7.3 million in the first quarter. Net income was down 96% from the first quarter of 2022.
Lippert President and CEO Jason Lippert said: “Despite challenging wholesale and OEM environments, we delivered solid results in the first quarter of 2023, underscored by robust content growth and strong sequential margin expansion given current market conditions. Steadfast focus on our diversification strategy and continued operational improvements have positioned us to deliver sustained profitability, with performance in our adjacent industries and aftermarket businesses helping to partially offset the impact of lower RV OEM shipments.”
Lippert’s content per travel trailer and fifth wheel for the 12 months ending March 31 rose 21% from the same period in 2022. Content per towable totaled $5,881.
“Despite wholesale RV declines, revenue and content per unit are substantially above pre-Covid levels,” Jason Lippert said. “By leveraging our strong R&D capabilities, we are aggressively working to expand market share through product innovations to meet consumer demand for high-quality, sophisticated content.”
Aftermarket sales fell 13% in the first quarter of 2023 from the first quarter of 2022. Lippert said the drop was driven primarily by declining automotive aftermarket sales.
Results continued to decline in April. Lippert said April 2023 sales were down 37% from the same month in 2022. The supplier attributed the decline to a 51% decline in RV wholesale shipments compared with April 2022.
“As we navigate through this down cycle, largely driven by recent overproduction within the industry, we remain confident in the underlying strength of the outdoor lifestyle and are seeing continued retail demand coming out of spring shows,” Jason Lippert said. “With the efficiencies we have captured, combined with the continued performance of our diversified portfolio, we believe we are poised to continue our trajectory of strong performance and deliver substantial margin growth when RV OEM production recovers.”
