Titan's Sales Declined During First Quarter

May 7, 2020

Titan International Inc. achieved net sales of $341.5 million during the first quarter versus $410.4 million during the same period last year. The company experienced a net loss during 1Q 2020 of $25.5 million versus income of $1.2 million during 1Q 2019.

Titan's gross profit for the first quarter was $27.2 million, compared to $45.3 million achieved during the first quarter of 2019.

Overall, net sales volume was down 12.6% from the comparable prior year quarter, "due primarily to challenges in the earthmoving/construction market as a result of a slowdown of the global construction market, particularly in Europe," according to Titan officials.

"Additionally, in Europe, we experienced over $14 million in reduced sales as compared to the same period last year directly as a result of plant closures in Italy and China due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Continued weakness in the commodity markets, as well as the impact of COVID-19, were contributing factors in the sales decrease in the agriculture market, which resulted in lower volume from OEM customers. However, this was partially offset by increased volume in the aftermarket business."

"As we announced on March 4 in our earnings release concerning our fiscal year 2019 results, we expected  a solid rebound in full-year 2020 EBITDA driven by internal actions and relatively stable sales compared to 2019," says Paul Reitz, Titan's president and CEO.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the world since then, making it difficult to forecast demand in the coming months. We expect the months ahead will be challenging as order trends have pulled back, but we do believe that a significant portion of that demand will shift to the second half of this year and not be completely lost. 

"As a result, we have and will continue to be comprehensive in taking immediate cost control actions along with appropriate cash preservation measures."