LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., March 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) announced today that it
received new orders in its second quarter ended February 28, 2015 for 10,100 railcar units valued
at $1.09 billion. Orders for the
quarter include double stack intermodal cars, covered hopper cars
primarily for grain transportation, refrigerated and insulated
boxcars, gondolas and tank cars, both for transportation of crude
oil and other commodity types. (These orders include 3,500 units
valued at approximately $400 million
received in December 2014 which
Greenbrier previously disclosed on January
7, 2015.)
William A. Furman, Chairman and
CEO said, "Our strategy to diversify our product offerings, invest
in efficient, flexible and lower cost facilities, and to drive more
volume through our lease syndication and asset management business
continues to pay off. Since the beginning of our fiscal year
on September 1, 2014, we have
received orders for 24,200 new railcar units valued at $2.33 billion, across multiple railcar types.
Deliveries will extend beyond calendar 2016, with nearly 80%
of these orders for railcars that serve non-energy related
markets. Recent orders include a significant multi-year
order, a testament to the positive outlook and strong industry
fundamentals for the foreseeable future."
"We anticipate the regulatory picture for tank cars transporting
hazardous materials will be clarified with final US and Canadian
government actions to occur no later than mid-May," Furman said.
"We expect Greenbrier's Tank Car of the Future will be adopted as
the new standard and an additional wave of new tank car orders and
tank car retrofits will occur, regardless of oil prices."
Furman concluded, "Our business is well-balanced, and our strong
order book provides us good visibility through calendar 2016 and
beyond. We remain committed to operational excellence in each
of our businesses and enhancing the long-term trajectory of key
metrics, including financial goals of at least 20% aggregate gross
margin and 25% ROIC by the second half of fiscal 2016. We
will continue to take a balanced approach to reinvesting in high
rate of return projects in our core businesses, seeking
acquisitions within our core competencies, and returning capital to
shareholders."
Certain orders in this release are subject to customary
documentation and completion of terms. A portion of the orders
reflect an assumed product mix. The exact product mix will be
determined in the future which may impact the dollar amount of
backlog.
About Greenbrier
Greenbrier, (www.gbrx.com),
headquartered in Lake Oswego,
Oregon, is a leading supplier of transportation equipment
and services to the railroad industry. We build new railroad
freight cars in our 4 manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and
Mexico and marine barges at our
U.S. manufacturing facility. Greenbrier also sells
reconditioned wheel sets and provides wheel services at 10
locations throughout the U.S. We recondition, manufacture and
sell railcar parts at 4 U.S. sites. Greenbrier is a 50/50
joint venture partner with Watco Companies, LLC in GBW Railcar
Services, LLC which repairs and refurbishes freight cars at 39
locations across North America,
including 14 tank car repair and maintenance facilities certified
by the Association of American Railroads. Greenbrier builds new
railroad freight cars and refurbishes freight cars for the European
market through our operations in Poland. Greenbrier owns approximately 8,300
railcars, and performs management services for approximately
241,000 railcars.
"SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION
REFORM ACT OF 1995: This press release may contain
forward-looking statements, including statements regarding expected
new railcar production volumes and schedules, expected customer
demand for the Company's products and services, plans to increase
manufacturing capacity, restructuring plans, new railcar delivery
volumes and schedules, growth in demand for the Company's railcar
services and parts business, and the Company's future financial
performance. Greenbrier uses words such as "anticipates,"
"believes," "forecast," "potential," "goal," "contemplates,"
"expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "hopes," "seeks,"
"estimates," "strategy," "could," "would," "should," "likely,"
"will," "may," "can," "designed to," "future," "foreseeable future"
and similar expressions to identify forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from in the results contemplated by the forward-looking
statements. Factors that might cause such a difference
include, but are not limited to, reported backlog and awards are
not indicative of our financial results; uncertainty or changes in
the credit markets and financial services industry; high levels of
indebtedness and compliance with the terms of our indebtedness;
write-downs of goodwill, intangibles and other assets in future
periods; sufficient availability of borrowing capacity;
fluctuations in demand for newly manufactured railcars or failure
to obtain orders as anticipated in developing forecasts; loss of
one or more significant customers; customer payment defaults or
related issues; actual future costs and the availability of
materials and a trained workforce; failure to design or manufacture
new products or technologies or to achieve certification or market
acceptance of new products or technologies; steel or specialty
component price fluctuations and availability and scrap surcharges;
changes in product mix and the mix between segments; labor
disputes, energy shortages or operating difficulties that might
disrupt manufacturing operations or the flow of cargo; production
difficulties and product delivery delays as a result of, among
other matters, inefficiencies associated with expansion or start-up
of production lines or increased production rates, changing
technologies, transfer of production between facilities or
non-performance of alliance partners, subcontractors or suppliers;
ability to obtain suitable contracts for the sale of leased
equipment and risks related to car hire and residual values;
integration of current or future acquisitions and establishment of
joint ventures; succession planning; discovery of defects in
railcars or services resulting in increased warranty costs or
litigation; physical damage or product or service liability claims
that exceed our insurance coverage; train derailments or other
accidents or claims that could subject us to legal claims; actions
or inactions by various regulatory agencies including potential
environmental remediation obligations or changing tank car or other
rail car or railroad regulation; and issues arising from
investigations of whistleblower complaints; all as may be discussed
in more detail under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Forward
Looking Statements" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended August 31, 2014,
and our other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance
on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's
opinions only as of the date hereof. Except as otherwise
required by law, we do not assume any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/greenbrier-announces-orders-for-10100-railcars-valued-at-109-billion-300051397.html
SOURCE The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBX)