Winnebago Industries starts Fiscal Year 2020 off on positive note

FOREST CITY — The 2020 fiscal year has started out on a good note for Winnebago Industries. The Forest City-based outdoor lifestyle product manufacturer reports revenues for the first quarter were $588.5 million, an increase of 19% compared to the first quarter of 2019. 

Winnebago in November closed their acquisition of Indiana-based Newmar Corporation for $344 million. Excluding Newmar, revenues for Winnebago were $552.8 million, which would be about a 12% growth compared to the same period last year. CEO Michael Happe says the Newmar line will help the company expand into high-priced, luxury recreational vehicles.  “This bold move gives Winnebago Industries a more complete, premium overall motorhome business, with a more significant presence in all motorized subcategories, including increased market share in the North American luxury RV market, and a more profitable motorized segment in the future.”

Happe anticipates Fiscal Year 2020 should be a good one for the company now with Newmar under the Winnebago umbrella, along with the recent purchases of the Grand Design towable-RV brand and Chris-Craft Boats.  “Our overall premium portfolio is now home to four of the most valued brands in the outdoor lifestyle arena: Winnebago, Grand Design, Newmar, and Chris-Craft. We expect to maintain the same level of high performance in Fiscal Year 2020, recognizing there will be important work associated with the Newmar integration.”

Happe says a bump in the number of backlogged orders continues to prove there’s demand for recreational vehicles in the country.  “Our motorhome backlog increased 34.2% in units for the prior year, which reflects the addition of Newmar, which provided 31.8% percentage points of growth, year-over-year new product Innovation, primarily in our Class B lineup. We look forward to improving the financial profile of our motorhome segment and building on top-line momentum throughout Fiscal Year 2020, while stealing learnings and best practices from our new colleagues at Newmar.”

Revenues for the company’s motorhome segment were $225.9 million, up almost 25% compared to first quarter 2019. The towable segment was up 16.5% to $341.3 million.