Wabash’s Earnings Decline in Second Quarter

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

railer maker Wabash National Corp. reported Thursday net income of $5 million or 15 cents a share for the second quarter, compared with $49 million or $1.33 last year.

Net sales for the quarter rose to $333.6 million from $323 million in 2005.

In March, Wabash completed its acquisition of flatbed trailer manufacturer Transcraft, which added $36 million to second quarter sales.

Bill Greubel, chief executive officer of Wabash, said in a statement that challenges related to the company’s integration of enterprise resource planning software adversely affected second-quarter sales. ERP helps computers with different operating systems and software packages communicate with each other.

“Parts availability related to the materials planning issues will constrain van trailer production for the next several months and limit 2006 volume to approximately 55,000 van trailer units,” Greubel added.

Earlier this month, Wabash postponed its second-quarter earnings release to finalize its financial statements. (Click here for previous coverage.)