January 28, 2010 – Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., kicked off fiscal 2010 with strong revenue and earnings growth, due to its thriving defense business. The parent company of Iowa Mold Tooling and JLG Industries reported fiscal 2010 first quarter net sales of $2.43 billion and income from continuing operations of $191.2 million, or $2.10 per share, excluding non-cash intangible asset impairment charges. This compares with net sales of $1.33 billion and a loss from continuing operations of $11.7 million, or $0.16 per share, in the prior year's first quarter. Oshkosh reported income from continuing operations of $172.5 million, or $1.90 per share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

"During the quarter, we supplied more than 2,300 life-saving MRAP All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATVs) to the U.S. armed forces for use by our warfighters in Afghanistan as we ramped up production to 1,000 units per month in December 2009,” said Robert G. Bohn, Oshkosh Corporation chairman and chief executive officer. “Additionally, our defense team executed extraordinarily well under all of our tactical wheeled vehicle and aftermarket parts & service contracts for the U.S. Army and Marines.”

The company also reduced its debt by an additional $182.5 million in its first quarter of fiscal 2010. It plans to continue to focus on debt reduction throughout the fiscal year.

Oshkosh reported that consolidated net sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 increased 83.2 percent compared with the prior year's first quarter largely due to $1.1 billion of M-ATV contract sales, including related aftermarket parts & service sales. Operating income, excluding impairment charges, increased to $349.0 million, or 14.3 percent of sales, for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 compared with operating income of $25.6 million, or 1.9 percent of sales, in the prior year first quarter.

Access equipment segment sales also increased 97.6 percent to $728.0 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 compared with the prior year quarter. First quarter fiscal 2010 sales included $527.6 million of intercompany M-ATV related sales to the defense segment, as Oshkosh was able to leverage significantly underutilized facilities in the access equipment segment and call back idled employees to meet defense production requirements.

Access equipment sales to external customers decreased 45.6 percent to $200.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, compared with the prior year quarter. External customer sales reflected substantially lower global demand for access equipment as a result of recessionary economies and tight credit markets. Sales of new access equipment declined about 60 percent compared with the prior year quarter as the first quarter of fiscal 2009 benefited from shipments from a strong backlog entering that quarter.

The access equipment segment reported operating income of $13.5 million, or 1.9 percent of sales, for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 compared with an operating loss of $47.0 million, or 12.8 percent of sales, in the prior year quarter. Operating results benefited from the recognition of intercompany M-ATV sales at mid single-digit margins. Operating results for the access equipment segment also benefited from a decrease in material costs, lower provisions for credit losses and restructuring charges, and the benefit of cost reductions from prior year initiatives.

Significantly improved defense segment performance, combined with improved access equipment segment performance, in each case, due in large part to high volume M-ATV production, led to the increase in operating income. Including impairment charges, the Company reported operating income of $325.7 million.

Click here for the complete report.