April 28 – PACCAR posted a decline in first-quarter revenue on Tuesday, weighed by soft demand for new trucks as the industry struggles to emerge from a prolonged period of over-capacity.
The U.S. trucking industry showed early signs of a revival this year after nearly four years of recession, but higher fuel costs tied to the Middle East conflict have stalled the momentum.
PACCAR, which owns brands such as Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF, reported 17,800 U.S. and Canada truck deliveries in the first quarter, down from 22,200 a year earlier. Revenue from sales of trucks fell 13.4% to $4.53 billion. Its shares were down more than 1% in premarket trading.
Truck operator JB Hunt, which has a fleet of over 12,000 trucks, has been making cost reductions to boost efficiency amid the ongoing uncertainty.
Softer demand for new trucks, however, has kept older vehicles on the road longer, lifting sales in PACCAR’s aftermarket parts business by 1.2% to $1.71 billion.
The company posted a per-share profit of $1.15, up from 96 cents a year earlier.
Its total quarterly revenue, including the financial services segment, was $6.78 billion, compared with $7.44 billion a year earlier.
(Reporting by Apratim Sarkar and Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
Comments