USA - School bus builder, Blue Bird Corporation (Blue Bird) of Macon, Georgia, USA has reported revenues for fiscal year ending September 29, 2018 of USD1.025bn, an increase of USD34.4m or an increase of 3.5% compared with USD990.6m during the prior fiscal year. Bus sales generated USD962.8m (up USD32m) and Bus Parts sales USD62.2m (up USD2.3m). The increase was primarily driven by higher bus unit sales, with sales of 11,649 buses in FY2018, some 332 units more or an increase of 3% over 11,317 units in FY2017; this was its seventh consecutive year of growth, Blue Bird stated. Achieving more than USD1bn in net sales was a new milestone for Blue Bird, the company said.

Full year gross profit was USD122m, a decrease of USD5.4m from USD127m in the prior year, but net income was up by USD2.0m at USD30.8m for the fiscal year ended September 29, 2018 from USD28.8m. The increase was primarily driven by a decrease of USD14.5m in income taxes and a debt extinguishment charge of USD10.1m in the prior year that was not recurring. These were partially offset by an increase of USD15.9m in selling, general and administrative expenses, primarily reflecting non-recurring costs to deliver the company’s Transformational Initiatives, and a decrease of USD5.4m in gross profit. Full year profits were also impacted by rapid price changes in steel, other commodities and freight costs. Blue Bird improved adjusted EBITDA by USD1.5m in the full year to USD70.4m.