Gehl Reports Record Q1 Results

April 27, 2007 • Gehl Company, West Bend, Wis., today reported record first quarter income from continuing operations of $6.5 million, or $.52 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, 2007, compared to income from continuing operations of $6.4 million, or $.51 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2006.

 

Net sales for the first quarter of 2007 were $115.2 million compared to net sales of $122.1 million in the first quarter of 2006. The company attributes the results to the strength of international markets and continued market share gains.

 

Gross margin also improved to 22.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared to 21.5 percent in the first quarter last year. The gross margin increase was driven primarily by product mix, as well as favorable results the company achieved from its added supply chain resources and investments in manufacturing equipment.

 

According to William Gehl, chairman and CEO, the company also increased its telehandler market share and generated strong international revenues led by a 45-percent sales increase in the company's Gehl Europe subsidiary.

 

Based on the company's first quarter results, current backlog position and management's expectation that North American market conditions will stabilize, the company raised its full year outlook. Gehl now expects its net sales from continuing operations to be in the range of $475 million to $500 million and earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of $2.15 to $2.35.