LCI Industries (“Lippert”) has reported first quarter 2023 results which show that in its RV OEM business channel, net sales were $400.1 million in the first quarter, down 62% year-over-year, driven by a nearly 55% decline in North American wholesale shipments for the quarter compared to same quarter in 2022.
Lippert’s content per North American travel trailer and fifth-wheel RVs for the twelve months ended March 31, 2023, increased 21% year-over-year to $5,881. Its continued execution of a diversification strategy meant that North American RV OEM net sales were now less than 48% of total net sales for 12 months ended March 31, 2023.
“Despite challenging wholesale and OEM environments, we delivered solid results in the first quarter of 2023, underscored by robust content growth and strong sequential margin expansion given current market conditions. Steadfast focus on our diversification strategy and continued operational improvements have positioned us to deliver sustained profitability, with performance in our adjacent industries and aftermarket businesses helping to partially offset the impact of lower RV OEM shipments. Despite wholesale RV declines, revenue and content per unit are substantially above pre-COVID levels. By leveraging our strong R&D capabilities, we are aggressively working to expand market share through product innovations to meet consumer demand for high-quality, sophisticated content,” commented Jason Lippert, LCI Industries’ President and Chief Executive Officer.
“As we navigate through this down cycle, largely driven by recent overproduction within the industry, we remain confident in the underlying strength of the outdoor lifestyle and are seeing continued retail demand coming out of spring shows. We are continuing to fortify our financial profile and have made significant progress towards our plan to reduce inventories by $300 million this year, supporting enhanced cash generation. With the efficiencies we’ve captured, combined with the continued performance of our diversified portfolio, we believe we are poised to continue our trajectory of strong performance and deliver substantial margin growth when RV OEM production recovers,” Lippert continued. “Our strong cultural foundation, veteran operational leadership, and dedicated team members keep us on track in our efforts to create long-term value for all stakeholders throughout 2023.”
Consolidated net sales for the first quarter of 2023 were $973.3 million, a decrease of 41 percent from 2022 first quarter net sales of $1.6 billion. Net income in the first quarter of 2023 was $7.3 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, compared to net income of $196.2 million, or $7.71 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2022. EBITDA in the first quarter of 2023 was $52.5 million, compared to EBITDA of $301.5 million in the first quarter of 2022. Additional information regarding EBITDA, as well as a reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure of net income, is provided in the “Supplementary Information – Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures” section below.
The decrease in year-over-year net sales for the first quarter of 2023 was primarily driven by decreased North American RV wholesale shipments and decreased selling prices which are indexed to select commodities, partially offset by acquisitions. Net sales from acquisitions completed in the twelve months ended March 31, 2023 contributed approximately $28.5 million in the first quarter of 2023.
The Company’s average product content per travel trailer and fifth-wheel RV for the twelve months ended March 31, 2023, increased $1,027 to $5,881, compared to $4,854 for the twelve months ended March 31, 2022. The content increase in towables was primarily a result of organic growth, including pricing and new product introductions, market share gains, and acquisitions.
