Polaris Industries Inc. announced the declaration of a regular quarterly $0.60 per share cash dividend payable on September 17, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 31, 2018.
Scotts Valley, California based Fox Factory Holding Corp. has reported sales up by +29.8% for 2018 Q2. Net income was $18.4 million, or 11.7% of sales and $0.47 of earnings per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA was $32.4 million, or 20.7% of sales.
BRP has announced it is to acquire Lansing, Michigan based Triton Industries, manufacturer of the Manitou pontoon range as a next step, the second Marine Division company purchase in what it describes as its “global marine strategy.” The news comes a few weeks after Polaris announced a definitive agreement to buy $560m in sales Boat Holdings, LLC, which it describes as “the leading manufacturer of pontoon boats in the U.S.”
Deliveries of BMW Motorrad premium motorcycles and maxi scooters in the first half of the year were close to the extremely high level achieved last year. In the year-to-date, a total of 86,975 units were delivered to customers, a decrease of 1.6% year-on-year. BMW Motorrad is significantly refreshing its model line-up in 2018, with nine new models being introduced, and the related adjustments in production are affecting deliveries. BMW Motorrad continues to strive for sales growth across the full calendar year.
KTM Industries AG reported a record first half for 2018 with motorcycle sales of 126,808 units (+15%). At € 821.8m, revenues were +8% with EBIT +19% at € 78.4m – the KTM balance sheet position was boosted by the sale of the Pankl-Group to Pierer Industrie AG-Group for € 103.5m. KTM EBITDA was up at € 126.2m from € 105.8m and says its market share in Europe was up by +36% (YoY) to a market share of 11.3%, stimulated by the successful launch of the two-cylinder 800 cc KTM 790 Duke and the 401 Svartpilen/Vitpilen and 701 Vitpilen Husqvarna road models.
SEMA says that the automotive specialty equipment market experienced an eighth straight year of post-recession growth, reaching $43 billion in 2017 (+4%). Pickup products accounted for $12.44 billion (29%) of sales in 2017; in-store purchases accounted for roughly two-thirds of all retail sales in 2017; 33% of all specialty-equipment consumers were under 30 years old and 42% of all forced induction products (turbochargers, superchargers, etc.) purchased were DIY installed.
Dowco, manufacturer of the Willie & Max luggage brand among others, has sold its marine business segment to Patrick Industries. The Dowco Powersports and Plastics business segments will continue to be privately held by Chuck Webster, who has owned Dowco since 1975. Over the next several months Dowco will transition names to Redline Plastics, who will build a new corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility in Manitowoc, WI. The Dowco brand name will continue to be used by Redline Plastics for powersports covers for the foreseeable future.
Market researcher Freedonia estimates global demand for motorcycles as projected to rise by +4.4% p.a. through 2022 to 121.5m units. It cites increasing use for recreational purposes, growing availability of affordable models and expansion of road networks in developing markets as drivers. Global demand was for 80.7m units in 2017, with Asia responsible for some 80% of sales.
New personal watercraft (PWC) sales increased +3% in the U.S. in June, continuing a monthly upward trend that started five years ago.
Honda has celebrated its 20th anniversary of Side by Side and ATV production at its South Carolina factory. The company recently completed a $45m expansion project at the facility and has built its three-millionth ATV there since production began in 1998.
Yamaha has reported consolidated net sales of 851.3 billion yen (+2.8%) for the first half of 2018 with global net sales of motorcycles +3.7%, thanks largely to strong results in emerging markets; operating income was +4.3% as a result of high profitability in the ASEAN region.
