LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Oct. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Greenbrier
Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) announced today that it expects to
exceed previously provided diluted EPS guidance of $5.70 to $5.85 (excluding non-recurring costs in
the third quarter of $0.16 per share)
for the fiscal year ended August 31,
2015. These higher expectations are principally driven by
increased margins in the Company's manufacturing segment, which
includes lease syndications and a lower than anticipated tax rate
related to geographic mix of earnings. In addition,
Greenbrier disclosed it received diversified new orders in its
fourth quarter ended August 31, 2015
for 2,900 railcar units valued at $470
million. Orders for the quarter include medium and large
cube covered hopper cars, automobile carrying cars, boxcars and
tank cars. The tank car orders include a recent award for 1,200
tank cars from Saudi Railway Company (SAR). (More details on
the SAR order can be found in a separate news release issued today
by the Company.)
William A. Furman, Chairman and
CEO said, "Our diversified backlog of 41,300 units valued at
$4.71 billion as of August 31, 2015 is near all-time highs, giving us
visibility well into 2016, 2017 and beyond. Additionally, our
recent expansion into Brazil and
Saudi Arabia extends our
geographical reach into new international markets and further
diversifies our business. Production facilities now include
major factories in Mexico to serve
North America and Latin America; Brazil which can reach African and Latin
American export markets; Poland
for Europe, near-Asia, Saudi
Arabia and other Middle
East markets; as well as our flagship factory, Gunderson, in
the United States."
Furman continued, "During our fiscal year 2015, we received
orders for 32,400 new railcar units valued at $3.44 billion. The average sales price of
$106,000 for the orders received is
$11,000 higher than in fiscal year
2014 and is a testament to the value and diversity of railcar types
ordered."
"We have recently confirmed production schedules with many of
our major customers, including those operating in the energy
sector, and have received no order cancellations. In select
cases, we have worked with customers to change product mix or
reschedule a portion of production, in return for attractive
current and future benefits to Greenbrier. These changes,
which are consistent with our longstanding practices, have freed
production capacity to receive orders in areas of rising demand
such as automotive, and medium and large cube covered hopper
cars."
"We remain confident in the strength of our strategy and
integrated business model and are committed to achieving
operational excellence in each of our businesses. Our
strategy to diversify our product mix, add efficient, flexible
capacity in low-cost facilities, increase revenue diversity in
international markets, and drive considerably more value through
our leasing model is paying off. We anticipate another strong
year in our fiscal 2016, and expect to generate significant free
cash flow."
Furman concluded, "Greenbrier will continue a balanced approach
of reinvesting free cash flow into projects that generate high
rates of return, seeking acquisitions in our core competencies and
returning capital to shareholders. Since we initiated our
share repurchase program in October
2013, we have returned over $130
million of capital to shareholders through the repurchase of
2.3 million shares and payment of dividends."
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.
Greenbrier expects to release its August
31, 2015 fourth quarter and fiscal year-end financial
results and hold its related quarterly conference call on
Friday, October 30, 2015.
Details for accessing the conference call will be issued on or
about October 23, 2015.
About Greenbrier
Greenbrier, (www.gbrx.com),
headquartered in Lake Oswego,
Oregon, is a leading supplier of transportation equipment
and services to the railroad industry. Greenbrier builds 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 9 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 33 locations
across North America, including 12
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 9,300 railcars, and performs
management services for approximately 260,000 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; sovereign risk to contracts, exchange rates or
property rights; 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.
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SOURCE The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBX)