Fleetwood Sees Loss Narrow

Fleetwood Enterprises Inc.’s first-quarter loss narrowed after the largest U.S. maker of recreational vehicles eliminated jobs in response to lower demand for motor homes and manufactured housing, the company said Thursday.

The loss narrowed to $11.1 million, or 34 cents a share, in the quarter ended July 29 from a loss from operations of $19.9 million, or 61 cents, in the year-earlier period. Sales slid 22% to $720.1 million from $564.1 million.

Riverside-based Fleetwood plans to close five manufactured-housing stores, leaving the company with about 150 outlets, down from 188 stores at the end of the fiscal year ended April. The company expects to take two more quarters to reach inventory reduction goals, Treasurer Lyle Larkin said.

“They’re still not profitable, and it might not be until the fourth quarter in April that they might finally reach that,� said Michael Crawford, an analyst at B. Riley & Co., who rates the company a “neutral.� The firm has no investment banking relationship with the company.

Recreational vehicle sales declined 16% to $266.3 million as fuel prices rose. Manufactured housing revenue fell 26% to $290 million. Fleetwood trimmed about 7,000 jobs, or a third of its work force, and shut two motor-home plants and 10 manufactured-housing factories in the fiscal year ended in April.

Sales at Fleetwood’s manufactured-housing stores declined 45% in the quarter to $108.5 million, while the number of homes sold dropped 29% to 2,646.

Fleetwood stock fell 28 cents to close at $14.45 on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have climbed 38% this year.