Lippert on Tuesday released preliminary fourth-quarter results, warning of a potential earnings loss.
The company said its results were affected by lower production levels by RV and marine manufacturers in the quarter. Included in the slowdown were longer pontoon manufacturer shutdowns than expected.
Lippert said fourth-quarter net sales are expected to range from $832 million to $842 million, up to a 7% decline from $894 million in fourth-quarter 2022 net sales.
Earnings per share are expected to range from a loss of 4 cents to 14 cents per share, an improvement from the 68-cents-per-share loss in the fourth quarter of 2022.
LCI Industries President and CEO Jason Lippert said, “While marine production has continued to be soft as we begin 2024, RV production has shown a slow and modest start returning from the holiday shutdowns and is outpacing January 2023 levels. We expect an improving trend for RV with February orders looking stronger year-over-year, as retail shows are giving off positive sentiment.”
The financial result ranges are preliminary, unaudited and estimates based on information available as of Tuesday. Lippert said preliminary estimates are subject to change before the company reports complete fiscal results Feb. 13.
Jason Lippert said the company’s diversification has been critical to navigating market challenges.
“We remain acutely focused on taking non-strategic costs out of our business and leveraging our flexible capacity to support margin improvements,” he said. “At the same time, we are delivering solid growth and performance in our aftermarket segment and other adjacent businesses to offset weakness in the RV and marine industries. We believe our business is built to withstand these near-term pressures, and we plan to continue to invest strategically and are confident in the mid- to long-term profitable growth of our business.”
