ELKHART, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO) today announced that it has paid in
full the outstanding balance on its revolving credit facility. This
facility was initiated in association with the funding of the June 2016
acquisition of Jayco. The $500 million facility remains available for
future borrowings by the Company through the facility maturity date of
June 30, 2021. The Company further announced that its Board of Directors
has authorized the repurchase of up to $250 million of the Company’s
common stock over the next (2) years on the open market or in privately
negotiated transactions in accordance with applicable securities laws.
The repurchases, if made, will occur from time to time depending on
market conditions and other factors.
“The Jayco acquisition has been a great success, delivering significant
accretive value to our organization and shareholders,” said Bob Martin,
Thor President and CEO. “Our execution, combined with strong earnings
and cash flows following the acquisition, allowed us to pay off the debt
in just two years. Further, the RV industry continues to benefit from
solid economic fundamentals, as well as favorable demographic trends and
lifestyle changes that are contributing to this growing marketplace.
These positive factors support our belief that new consumers will
continue to embrace the RV way of life and provide a pathway to
continued long-term growth.
“Given the elimination of our debt, our healthy balance sheet, debt
availability and historically strong cash flow, we now plan to embark on
the next phase of our capital allocation strategy. We will remain
primarily focused on driving organic growth in our current businesses
through investments in prudent capacity additions, technology and
product innovation. We also intend to continue to seek and fund
selective, opportunistic and accretive global growth opportunities. Our
investment criteria for growth opportunities will generally be
consistent with previous strategic actions taken by the Company,
including targeting acquisitions with a strong marketplace position,
successful operations and strong management, which will be accretive to
earnings and an overall strategic fit with Thor Industries. In addition,
we believe the Company is well positioned to return value to
shareholders through both this new share repurchase program and
dividends. Our capital allocation strategy reflects our confidence in
Thor’s current and long-term prospects and further demonstrates our
ongoing commitment to enhancing shareholder value,” Martin concluded.
The newly announced share repurchase authorization does not obligate the
Company to repurchase any dollar amount or number of shares of common
stock. This authorization is in effect until June 19, 2020, and may be
suspended or discontinued at any time.
About Thor Industries, Inc.
Thor is the sole owner of operating subsidiaries that, combined,
represent the world’s largest manufacturer of recreational vehicles. For
more information on the Company and its products, please go to www.thorindustries.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes certain statements that are “forward looking”
statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. These forward looking statements are made based on management’s
current expectations and beliefs regarding future and anticipated
developments and their effects upon Thor, and inherently involve
uncertainties and risks. These forward looking statements are not a
guarantee of future performance. We cannot assure you that actual
results will not differ from our expectations. Factors which could cause
materially different results include, among others, raw material and
commodity price fluctuations, raw material, commodity or chassis supply
restrictions, the level of warranty claims incurred, legislative,
regulatory and tax law and/or policy developments including their
potential impact on our dealers and their retail customers, or on our
suppliers, the costs of compliance with governmental regulation, legal
and compliance issues including those that may arise in conjunction with
recent transactions, lower consumer confidence and the level of
discretionary consumer spending, interest rate fluctuations, the
potential impact of interest rate fluctuations on the general economy
and specifically on our dealers and consumers, restrictive lending
practices, management changes, the success of new and existing products
and services, consumer preferences, the pace of obtaining and producing
at new production facilities, the pace of acquisitions and the
successful closing and financial impact thereof, the potential loss of
existing customers of acquisitions, the integration of new acquisitions,
our ability to retain key management personnel of acquired companies, a
shortage of necessary personnel for production, the loss or reduction of
sales to key dealers, the availability of delivery personnel, asset
impairment charges, cost structure changes, competition, the impact of
potential losses under repurchase agreements, the potential impact of
the strength of the U.S. dollar on international demand, general
economic, market and political conditions, changes to investment and
capital allocation strategies or other facets of our strategic plan, and
other risks and uncertainties including those discussed more fully in
ITEM 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31,
2017 and Part II, Item 1A of our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the
period ended April 30, 2018.
We disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or
revisions to any forward looking statements contained in this release or
to reflect any change in our expectations after the date of this release
or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any
statement is based, except as required by law.
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Source: Thor Industries, Inc.