Harley Reports First Quarter 2013 Earnings

Motor Company Cites Increase of 33.8% Per Share

Harley's financial report for the first quarter of 2013 has just been released, and it's a doozy, according to The Motor Company. Diluted earnings per share for the period increased 33.8% on higher motorcycle shipments and improvement in operating efficiencies, says Harley, compared to the year-ago period. The firm also said first-quarter net income was $224.1 million on revenue of $1.57 billion, compared to net income of $172.0 million in the year-ago period on consolidated revenue of $1.43 billion. First-quarter 2013 diluted earnings per share were $0.99, compared to $0.74 a year ago.

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harley-Davidson, Inc., Keith Wandell cited "the successful launch of seasonal surge production at (our) York assembly operations in the first quarter" as one of the driving reasons for the greater efficiency.

Retail Motorcycle Sales
Worldwide, dealers sold 54,254 new Harleys in the first quarter of 2013 compared to 59,677 motorcycles in the year-ago quarter, while in the U.S., dealers sold 12.7% fewer bikes in the first quarter of 2013 than in the a year-ago period, or 34,706 new Harley-Davidsons. International sales were flat, with dealers moving 19,548 new Harley-Davidsons during the first quarter, compared to 19,915 in the year-ago period, with unit sales up 11.5% in the Asia Pacific region and 6.2% in the Latin America region, and down 10.8% in the EMEA region and 0.4% in Canada.

Industry-wide U.S. heavyweight new motorcycle (now 601cc-plus by Harley measurements) retail unit sales decreased 16.5% compared to last year's first quarter. Harley says it decided to adjust the definition of heavyweight motorcycles to 601cc-plus from the prior definition of 651cc-plus, to better align with the current U.S. industry definition.

For more info see: www.Harley-Davidson.com