For the 2012 year ending December 31, 2012, Polaris Industries, Inc., (NYSE: PII) reported record net income of $4.40 per diluted share, a 38% increase compared to $3.20 per diluted share. For the fourth quarter of 2012 Polaris reported a net income of $1.24 per diluted share, up 38 percent from the prior year’s fourth quarter net income of $0.90 per diluted share.

Reported net income for the full year was $312.3 million, up 37 percent from the previous year’s net income of $227.6 million. Sales for the full year totaled $3,209.8 million, an increase of 21 percent compared to sales of $2,656.9 million for the full year 2011. For the quarter Polaris reported a net income of $88.1 million, up 38 percent from the previous fourth quarter’s net income of $63.9 million. Sales for the fourth quarter 2012 totaled a record $900.6 million, an increase of 15 percent over last year’s fourth quarter sales of $782.0 million. Continue Reading »

Suzuki’s motorcycle business saw a profit for the first time in 11 quarters despite selling 21.0% fewer motorcycles.

In the quarter ended June 30, 2011, Suzuki saw an operating income of 300 million yen (US$3.8 million), compared to a loss of 1.8 billion yen (US$22.9 million) reported in the same quarter of 2010. Suzuki netted 75.4 billion yen (US$961.5 million) in motorcycle sales over the quarter, a year-on-year increase of 8.0% from 69.8 billion yen (US$890.0 million) in 2010.

Looking at unit sales however, the picture is less rosy. Suzuki sold 648,000 motorcycles over the quarter (including 6,000 ATVs), a decrease from the 820,000 units (with 7,000 of them ATVs) in the same quarter of 2010. Sales in China accounted for most of the decrease, as sales dropped to 215,000 units from 429,000 units.

North American sales fell to 15,000 units from17,000 units while European sales dropped from 33,000 units to 25,000 units. Meanwhile, Suzuki saw increases in unit sales in Japan (22,000 vs. 20,000), Africa (31,000 vs. 23,000) and Central and South America (48,000 vs. 36,000).

Overall, Suzuki saw a net profit of 18.7 billion yen (US$238.4 million), a 23.6% increase from the 15.2 billion yen (US$193.8 million) reported a year earlier.

[Source: Suzuki]

Suzuki Motor Corporation released its forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2012, predicting a 9.4% increase in worldwide motorcycle unit sales including a 9.0% increase in the North American market.

The fiscal forecast, delayed from Suzuki’s previous quarterly report in May because of the uncertainty caused by the March 11 earthquake, paints a positive picture for the current fiscal year. Suzuki forecasts sales of about 55,000 units in North America, an increase from about 50,000 units sold the previous fiscal year.

Suzuki also forecasts sales increases in Asia (up 12.4%) and in Japan (up 3.0%) while unit sales are expected to decrease in Europe (down 8.7%) and other regions (down 4.8%). Overall, worldwide sales are expected to near 2.95 million units, a 9.4% increase from the 2.70 million units sold in the prior fiscal year.

Overall, Suzuki forecasts a net income of 50 billion yen (US$621 million) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, an increase from the 45.2 billion yen (US$561 million) net income from the previous year.

Regarding the earthquake and tsunamis, Chief Executive Officer Osamu Suzuki says the company needs to spread its domestic facilities. Suzuki’s Japanese properties are currently concentrated in the Tokai region of the country. Though the Tokai region was not directly affected by the disasters in March, the region is considered a high-risk area for earthquakes.

“Our facilities are all at risk, either of an earthquake, tsunami or (disruption at) a nuclear power plant,” Suzuki tells Reuters, noting the company has a motorcycle test facility close to a shoreline. “If we don’t spread out our factories after all that’s happened, I would be called a fool as a chief executive,”

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Suzuki Reports Q4 2010-2011 Results

[Source: Suzuki, Reuters]