Oshkosh Rejects Icahn’s Takeover Bid

Oshkosh Corp. on Friday reported an operating profit for its most recent fiscal quarter and said its board rejected a takeover bid by investor Carl Icahn.

Icahn earlier this month began a takeover bid for Oshkosh worth about $3 billion, which was disclosed in a letter to the specialty truck maker’s shareholders.

Icahn — Oshkosh’s largest investor with a 9.5% stake — has criticized the firm’s executives for poor performance and said his proposal would equate to about $32.50 a share, Bloomberg reported.

The company’s stock was trading at $29.82 per share just after noon Eastern time on Friday.

Oshkosh on Friday also reported fourth-quarter adjusted operating income of $60.2 million, or 65 cents a share, up from $45.5 million, or 50 cents, a year ago.

Sales for the quarter ended Sept. 30 fell 2.3% to $2.06 billion.

Its full fiscal-year adjusted profit fell 26% to $208.5 million, and revenue rose 7.9% to $8.18 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Commercial segment sales rose 34.2% to $181.5 million in the fourth quarter, boosted by concrete placement and refuse collection vehicles.

The commercial segment’s operating income jumped to $9.2 million, or 5.1% of sales, in the quarter, from $2.6 million, or 1.9% of sales, a year ago.

Defense sales for the quarter fell 19% to $953.7 million.