Winnebago Industries has released its revenues for the fourth quarter ending Aug. 26, totaling $455 million, which is an increase of 73 percent.
Gross profit was $73.6 million, an increase of 131 percent compared to $31.9 million for the fiscal 2016 period. Gross profit margin increased 410 basis points, primarily driven by the accelerated growth in the more profitable towable segment. Operating income was $43.5 million for the current quarter, an improvement of 130 percent compared to $18.9 million in the fourth quarter of last year.
“We made significant progress in fiscal 2017 to transform Winnebago Industries into a larger, more profitable outdoor lifestyle company offering a full line of RVs,” said Michael Happe, president and CEO of Winnebago. “We continue to deliver robust sales growth and gross margin improvements, driven largely by the strong performance of our Grand Design division and the organic growth in our Winnebago-branded towable division. On the motorized side, our results reflect our strategic direction of repositioning and simplifying our product line, but also the changing trends of the motorized buyer to more affordable Class A and Class C motorhomes. Our work to streamline and reinvigorate our motorized product line is an active priority.”
Year over year, fiscal 2017 revenues of $1.5 billion increased 58.6 percent from $975.2 million in fiscal 2016. Gross profit improved 280 basis points, primarily due to the addition of Grand Design, and the strong growth in the towable segment overall.
Revenues for the towable segment were $229 million for the quarter, up $202 million over the prior year, driven by the addition of $193.4 million in revenue from the Grand Design acquisition and continued strong organic growth in Winnebago-branded towable products, which increased 33 percent compared to last year.