2nd UPDATE: Oshkosh Wins Contract for Military Truck; Shares Up
2009年7月1日 - 9:21AM
Dow Jones News
The Pentagon on Tuesday awarded a $1.06 billion contract to
Oshkosh Corp. (OSK) to build armored patrol trucks for U.S. troops
in Afghanistan, sending its shares up 25% in late trading.
The Wisconsin-based maker of fire trucks and other specialty
trucks will initially build 2,244 all-terrain trucks. Analysts say
the order volume could eventually total more than 5,000 trucks,
based on the money available for the vehicles.
Other companies competing for the production contract were
Navistar International Corp. (NAV); Force Dynamics LLC, a joint
venture between defense contractors General Dynamics Corp. (GD) and
Force Protection Inc. (FRPT); and BAE Systems PLC (BAESY). Oshkosh
said it will be able to comply with the accelerated production pace
requested by the Pentagon to get the trucks into action as quickly
as possible.
"We and our suppliers have already made significant investments
in materials and are well positioned to accelerate our
manufacturing capabilities," Andy Hove, the president of Oshkosh's
defense unit, said in a written statement.
Its shares were recently up 25% after-hours at $18.18, after
having closed down 1.69% at $14.54 in the regular session.
"This is the biggest thing that could have happened to them,"
said Basili Alukos, an analyst who follows the company for research
firm Morningstar Inc. "They needed this desperately."
Falling demand for Oshkosh's products, particularly its
construction equipment, have kept the company's profits under
pressure following a series of acquisitions in recent years that
doubled the company's annual sales.
Oshkosh's sales for the fiscal first half ended March 31fell 18%
to $2.68 billion. The company reported a $1.21 billion loss amid
large charge-offs, compared with income of $109.9 million, or 1.47
a share, in the same period a year earlier.
Oshkosh already supplies large and medium-size cargo trucks to
the military. As the winning entry for the all-terrain vehicle,
Oshkosh is positioned to influence the Pentagon debate over a
replacement for the military's ubiquitous Humvee utility
trucks.
The Humvee has been the workhorse for all branches of the
military for 25 years, but in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan the
truck has been particularly vulnerable to rocket attacks and land
mines.
The new truck is intended as a smaller, more mobile variant of
the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, trucks deployed in
Iraq to counter roadside bombs.
The MRAPs, which were credited with reducing U.S. casualties and
helping coalition forces defeat insurgents in Iraq, proved to be
too large and top-heavy for Afghanistan's mountainous terrain and
rugged, unpaved roads. Most of the 16,000 MRAPs purchased by the
Pentagon since 2007 were built by Navistar, BAE Systems and Force
Protection.
Truck and engine maker Navistar, which had been considered a
frontrunner for the new off-road truck, said late Tuesday it plans
to continue pursuing other truck contracts with the U.S. military
and is aggressively marketing its MRAPs to foreign armies.
Oshkosh's truck adds to an increasingly crowded fleet of
tactical and utility trucks in the U.S. military's fleet. Observers
predict that if the Oshkosh vehicle performs well in combat, it
will likely put pressure on Pentagon officials to rethink the Joint
Light Tactical Vehicle program, or JLTV, which has been considered
as the replacement for the Humvee.
Pentagon spending constraints, however, have caused some
Pentagon observers to conclude the JLTV program will be scaled back
or eliminated if less-expensive alternatives are available.
"It appears the JLTV program will shrink because of the
availability of so many vehicles that were armored for Iraq and
Afghanistan," said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer for the
Lexington Institute, a defense industry think tank in Virginia.
-By Bob Tita, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4129;
robert.tita@dowjones.com