POLARIS Industries Inc. has reported record second quarter sales for 2014, at $1,014 million, an increase of 20 percent over last year’s second quarter sales of $844.8 million.
Scott Wine, Polaris’ Chairman and CEO, said: “The second quarter results, our 19th consecutive quarter of record earnings performance, exemplify our commitment to delivering high quality, innovative products and a first-class purchase experience that our consumers expect. Our strong financial performance in the quarter was driven by outstanding retail sales growth, up 15 percent in North America, driven by market share gains in our side-by-side vehicle product line and continued growth of our Indian motorcycle business.
"Net income for the second quarter was up 21 percent to $96.9 from $80m for the year-ago quarter. Between strong demand for our existing offerings and our industry leading product innovation, we believe sales and earnings will continue to accelerate in the second half of the year, supporting our confidence and decision to again raise full year sales and earnings guidance for 2014.”
Sales for the motorcycles division, which includes Victory Motorcycles and Indian Motorcycles, increased 107 percent to $103.1 million in the 2014 second quarter compared to same period last year due to continued strong demand for the new model year 2014 Indian motorcycles.
Consumer retail demand for Polaris motorcycles, driven by Indian Motorcycle retail sales, was up approximately 50 percent during the 2014 second quarter, while second quarter North American industry heavyweight cruiser and touring motorcycle retail sales were about flat versus the 2013 second quarter.
The re-launch of Indian Motorcycle continued during the 2014 second quarter as additional dealers began retailing the bikes and awareness of the brand’s revival continued to gain momentum.
Victory retail sales in the 2014 second quarter were down mid-single digits percent largely due to a product recall in May. Sales of Polaris motorcycles outside of North America almost doubled in the second quarter of 2014 as compared to the year-ago period driven by strong retail demand for Indian motorcycles.
Gross profit increased 21 percent to $304.9 million compared to $252.3 million in the second quarter of 2013. As a percentage of sales, gross profit margin improved 20 basis points to 30.1 percent of sales for the second quarter of 2014, compared to 29.9 percent of sales for the same period last year. The pressure to gross margins from the negative currency movements of the Canadian dollar and weaker product mix during the 2014 second quarter was more than offset by lower product costs and higher pricing.