RACINE, Wis. – Sales of Twin Disc, Inc. (NASDAQ: TWIN)
for the fiscal 2009 third quarter ended March 27 were
$69,292,000, compared to $85,838,000 for the fiscal 2008
third quarter. Year-to-date sales were $223,562,000
compared to $241,345,000 for the fiscal 2008 nine
months, the company reported in a statement this
morning.
The decline in sales for the fiscal 2009 third quarter
was primarily due to lower sales of products to
customers in the megayacht, oil and gas, and industrial
markets, the company reported. This was partially offset
by higher sales to customers in the commercial marine,
land-based military and airport rescue fire fighting (ARFF)
markets. For the fiscal 2009 third quarter, foreign
currency translations negatively impacted sales by
$2,906,000.
Net earnings for the fiscal 2009 third quarter were
$2,850,000, compared with $7,929,000 for the fiscal 2008
third quarter. Year-to-date, earnings were $8,748,000,
compared to $17,243,000 for the fiscal 2008 nine months.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization (EBITDA) was $6,292,000 for the fiscal 2009
third quarter, compared to $13,271,000 for the fiscal
2008 third quarter. For the fiscal 2009 nine months,
EBITDA was $21,532,000, compared to $33,680,000 for the
fiscal 2008 comparable period.
“Going into the third quarter, we knew that Twin Disc
was not immune from the challenges facing the global
economy and while we saw signs of softening in certain
markets as early as the first quarter, our overall
business remained firm,” said Michael E. Batten,
chairman and CEO. “However, beginning in February and
accelerating during the remainder of the third quarter,
we experienced significant slowdown in volumes and
orders throughout certain markets such as the megayacht
and industrial markets that we had not experienced
during the fiscal 2009 first half. As the slowdown
developed in these markets, we began the process of
aligning our global cost structure with perceived
business levels, which included slowing production
primarily at our European operations, which are closely
tied to the megayacht marine markets and adjusting our
inventory and employee levels at our subsidiaries. We
will continue to take the appropriate actions to manage
our cost structure and maintain a level of profitability
that we feel the company can achieve despite slowing
sales.
“Our diverse and niche market focus has helped somewhat
insulate Twin Disc from the impacts of the global
slowdown as certain of our markets experienced growth
during the third quarter. Sales to military and
commercial marine customers were up during the quarter,
and while orders have slowed, they have not experienced,
nor do we anticipate them to experience, the accelerated
level of decline that we saw in the megayacht marine
markets.”
Batten also pointed out that Twin Disc has developed
three new products that will be introduced throughout
fiscal 2010, including “a hybrid-ready transmission that
helps lower the environmental and noise pollution boats
emit when they are operating at low RPM as they enter
and leave a port; and a joystick control system that
will complement our existing QuickShift transmission
technology.”
