Thor Announces Financial Results For 4th Quarter And Fiscal Year 2019.

ELKHART, Ind: Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE: THO) today announced results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended July 31, 2019.

"We are encouraged by the improvement in the North American RV Towables segment in the fourth quarter, as we saw our flexible business model and the benefits of our variable cost structure drive improvement in margins for the quarter," said Bob Martin, Thor President and CEO. "Fiscal 2019 was a year of significant accomplishments amid challenging industry conditions. We completed the largest acquisition in our Company's and the RV industry's history, while managing through the overhang of inventory among our independent dealers. As we look ahead to fiscal 2020, we see many reasons for optimism as we leverage the global growth opportunities of EHG. Our confidence was reinforced at the recent Dusseldorf Caravan Salon in late August, the Hershey RV show in mid-September and our Open House event held last week. Each of these important events were well attended and reflected the current optimistic sentiment of our independent dealers and consumers."

Fourth Quarter Highlights

Fourth-quarter net sales were $2.31 billion, an increase of $437.5 million, or 23.3%, from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, as the inclusion of $719.5 million in net sales from the European RV segment was partially offset by a 17.6% decrease in North American Towable RV sales and an 8.1% decrease in North American Motorized RV sales.

Overall gross profit margin was 14.4% in the quarter, compared to 13.0% in the prior-year period, primarily reflecting favorable product mix and improvements in material, labor, and warranty cost percentages in the North American towable segment, the Company's largest segment.

Net income attributable to Thor and diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter were $92.1 million and $1.67, respectively.

The Company's fourth-quarter financial results were impacted by certain acquisition-related items as noted below.

Transaction-related Impacts to Fiscal 2019 Fourth-Quarter Results:

Acquisition-related Costs: During the fourth quarter, Thor incurred expenses related to the acquisition of EHG, primarily related to professional services, of $2.4 million, which impacted EPS by $0.03 per diluted share.

Ongoing Incremental Costs: During the quarter, the Company also incurred other ongoing expenses related to the acquisition of EHG, including EHG intangible asset amortization expense of $12.8 million and interest expense on debt incurred to finance the acquisition of EHG of $30.7 million. Combined, these two items further impacted EPS by $0.57 per diluted share.

Tax Restructuring: During the fourth quarter, the Company incurred a EU2.7 million expense for real estate transfer taxes associated with creating a tax-efficient financing structure at EHG, which will provide future tax benefits for the Company.

The North American independent dealer...