Blue Bird Corporation announced a 4.5-percent increase in second-quarter net sales at $191.2 million, with propane sales powering the improvement.
“Momentum behind our propane-powered bus offering continues with sales up 20 percent over prior year in the quarter,” said Phil Horlock, company president and CEO, on Monday. “We are continuing to innovate with exciting new products that customers want and value.”
While total net sales for the first six months of the year down 7.5 percent to $322.5 million, which Blue Bird attributed to a decrease in bus sales by 377 units compared to last year, the average net sales price per unit for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 was 2.6-percent higher than the price per unit for the same period in fiscal 2015. The company said this increase in unit price reflects mainly product and customer mix changes.
Overall, Horlock said increased sales translated into Adjusted EBITDA of $10.1 million for the period, up from $9.9 million last year. Blue Bird also increased unit production to 2,132 from 2,093 over 2015 second quarter results. Meanwhile, parts sales increased by more than 3.6 percent to $14.3 million from $13.8 million last year.
Horlock also said orders for the new Blue Bird gasoline-powered Vision school bus, which was unveiled last July at the STN EXPO, are “at a strong pace,” with shipment expected later this year during the company’s fourth quarter.
“This new product, and others like it, will continue to differentiate Blue Bird and drive future growth,” Horlock added. “Our second shift in manufacturing is ramping up on schedule to support a stronger second half of the year.”
He said the total second-quarter net sales of $191.2 million in addition to the current order backlog reaffirm previous company full-year guidance of net sales between $960 million and $985 million with an Adjusted EBITDA of $72 million to $75 million and free cash flow of between $30 million and $35 million.
