Better result for Fleetwood RVs

Fleetwood Corporation has partly attributed “the consolidation of caravan manufacturing activities undertaken last year” for an increase in revenue within its Recreational Vehicles division for the 2013-14 financial year.

In a report listed on the ASX, Fleetwood’s RV business, which includes Windsor and Coromal caravans, Camec accessories and Flexiglass canopies, recorded annual revenue of $136.5 million (up 22 per cent).

That resulted in a loss of $2.1 million for the RV business (up from a $4.7 million loss the previous year), although it didn’t include a $5 million impairment charge against the goodwill of its caravan manufacturing business.

“The recreational vehicles division continued to experience soft trading conditions during the year, reflecting weak consumer sentiment,” Fleetwood said in a statement. “There has also been a shift towards lower specification budget vehicles which has affected industry revenue and margins.“

Fleetwood, which also supplies housing for the resources and education sectors, reported overall income of $366.5m (up 10 per cent), with profit before interest and tax down 57 per cent to $10.6 million.

The Perth company recently restructured its RV division included moving all caravan production to its West Australian factory, and introducing a  new, lower-cost camper trailer from China. It also ramped up production after a slowdown in demand for its caravans in recent years.

Fleetwood hinted that more RV products from Asia would be added to the line-up.

“Continued broadening of the Asian supply is expected to result in further economies for the recreational vehicles division,” the company said.