Monaco cautious as RV sales slow.Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard COBURG - Coburg-based RV maker Monaco Coach Corp. on Monday announced solid preliminary financial results for the quarter ended Oct. 2, but warned that retail motor home sales slowed in August and September. Monaco said that it is correspondingly reining Reining is a western riding competition for horses where the riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. All work is done at the lope (known more commonly worldwide as the canter) and gallop; the fastest of the horse gaits. in production. Monaco spokesman Craig Wanichek said he couldn't comment on whether a drop in production would affect employment levels at Monaco. He said the company will announce its official third-quarter results and provide guidance for the fourth quarter and for 2005 in a conference call on Oct. 27. Monaco has 3,000 employees in Oregon; about 2,500 are at its Coburg headquarters and in Harrisburg, and 500 are in Bend, Wanichek said. The company also has a recreational vehicle manufacturing complex in Indiana. Monaco said it's expecting third-quarter sales of $355 million to $360 million and profits per share of 24 cents to 27 cents. That's up strongly from sales of $303 million and earnings of 21 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. for the third quarter of 2003. But Monaco officials' reports of slowing retail sales suggest the industry - which has appeared in recent months to be back in the fast lane - could be hitting another patch of bumpy bump·y adj. bump·i·er, bump·i·est 1. Covered with or full of bumps: a bumpy country road. 2. Marked by bumps and jolts; rough: a bumpy flight. road. For the first five months of the year, national retail RV sales rose 15.2 percent, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Statistical Surveys Inc. Other locally based RV manufacturers have been adding workers. Coburg-based Marathon Motor Coach added 30 to 40 employees this year, and has said it anticipates more growth in 2005 and 2006. Junction City-based Country Coach recently announced plans to hire 150 to 175 employees by the end of the year, after adding more than 400 jobs in the previous 18 months. But Kay KAY Kick Ass Year KAY Kansas Association of Youth Toolson, Monaco's chief executive officer, in the statement Monday said his company's retail motor home sales weakened weak·en tr. & intr.v. weak·ened, weak·en·ing, weak·ens To make or become weak or weaker. weak  en·er n. in August and September. The company didn't provide
figures. Also, sales were hampered by hurricanes in the Southeast, which
traditionally is a strong sales region for Monaco, President John Nepute
said.
Responding to the softer market, Monaco offered promotions and discounts to dealers, which moved finished RVs out of inventory and onto dealers' lots, Nepute said. Monaco is taking steps to lower production in the fourth quarter in line with weaker retail sales, said Marty Daley, vice president and chief financial officer. Monaco produces RVs under the following brand names: Monaco, Holiday Rambler ram·bler n. 1. One that rambles: tourists and Sunday ramblers on the village streets; a conversational rambler. 2. A type of climbing rose having numerous red, pink, or white flowers. , Safari, Beaver beaver, either of two large aquatic rodents, Castor fiber and Castor canadensis, known for their engineering feats. They were once widespread in N and central Eurasia except E Siberia, and in North America from the arctic tree line to the S United , McKenzie and Royale Coach. |
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