LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Oct. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Greenbrier
Companies, Inc. (NYSE: GBX) today announced new orders during its
fourth quarter ended August 31, 2017
totaling 2,500 railcar units valued at $200
million. Subsequent to quarter end, orders for another
1,400 units were received, valued at $120
million. This signals a strong start to Greenbrier's
fiscal 2018 and brings total orders received since May 31, 2017 to 3,900 units. Greenbrier
also reported it expects to exceed previously announced diluted EPS
guidance of $3.45 to $3.65 for the
fiscal year ended August 31, 2017
(excluding expected moderate non-cash impairment charges related to
Greenbrier's interest in GBW Railcar Services). Orders
announced today comprise a broad range of railcar types including
double-stack intermodal units, covered hoppers for carrying a
variety of products, automotive-carrying railcars, and tank
cars.
William A. Furman, Chairman and
CEO said, "Order activity in the fourth quarter and early fiscal
2018 demonstrates the benefit of focusing on core North American
business while we continue to gain traction internationally.
More than 25% of orders announced today originated from markets
outside North America.
Greenbrier's strategy remains to sustain our foundational
North American business while we simultaneously expand our
international presence. This strategy is helping to
significantly grow Greenbrier's global market opportunity, bringing
greater balance through the peaks and valleys of the economic
cycle."
Furman continued, "In fiscal 2017, Greenbrier received orders
for over 16,500 railcars in North
America, Europe and
Brazil valued at $1.5 billion. The number and value of
railcars ordered in fiscal 2017 was more than double fiscal 2016.
This strong order activity contributed to our already diverse
and high-quality backlog, providing visibility for fiscal 2018 and
beyond. Our backlog, combined with the order activity in the
first month of the fiscal year, gives us continued confidence in
current operating expectations. While markets remain
competitive, we expect EPS growth in fiscal 2018 to be driven by
higher revenue and deliveries from domestic and foreign markets,
broadening product lines, access to new global customers, and
creative transactions like our recent multi-year agreement with
Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance."
Greenbrier expects to announce fiscal 2017 earnings and provide
additional fiscal 2018 guidance on Friday, October 27.
Certain orders in this release are subject to customary
documentation and completion of terms.
About Greenbrier
Greenbrier, headquartered in Lake
Oswego, Oregon, is a leading international supplier of
equipment and services to global freight transportation markets.
Greenbrier designs, builds and markets freight railcars and marine
barges in North America.
Greenbrier Europe is an end-to-end
freight railcar manufacturing, engineering and repair business with
operations in Poland and
Romania that serves customers
across Europe and in the
Middle East. Greenbrier builds
freight railcars and rail castings in Brazil through two separate strategic
partnerships. We are a leading provider of wheel services, parts,
railcar management & regulatory compliance services and leasing
services to railroads and related transportation industries in
North America. Greenbrier offers freight railcar repair,
refurbishment and retrofitting services in North America through a joint venture
partnership with Watco Companies, LLC. Through other unconsolidated
joint ventures, we produce rail castings, tank heads and other
railcar components. Greenbrier owns a lease fleet of over 9,000
railcars and performs management services for 267,000 railcars.
Learn more about Greenbrier at www.gbrx.com.
"SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION
REFORM ACT OF 1995: This press release may contain
forward-looking statements, including any statements that are not
purely statements of historical fact. 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 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 that
are not indicative of Greenbrier's financial results; uncertainty
or changes in the credit markets and financial services industry;
high levels of indebtedness and compliance with the terms of
Greenbrier's 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; policies and priorities of the
federal government regarding international trade and
infrastructure; 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, costs or inefficiencies associated with expansion,
start-up, or changing of production lines or changes in 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 Greenbrier's insurance coverage; train derailments or
other accidents or claims that could subject Greenbrier to legal
claims; actions or inactions by various regulatory agencies
including potential environmental remediation obligations or
changing tank car or other railcar 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 Greenbrier's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2016 and Greenbrier's Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended May 31, 2017, and Greenbrier's 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, Greenbrier does
not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
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SOURCE The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBX)