The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. announced Tuesday, March 17, 2015 it has received new orders in its second quarter ended Feb. 28, 2015 for 10,100 railcar units valued at $1.09 billion.
Orders for the quarter include doublestack intermodal cars, covered hopper cars primarily for grain transportation, refrigerated and insulated boxcars, gondolas and tank cars, both for transportation of crude oil and other commodity types. These orders include 3,500 units valued at approximately $400 million received in December 2014 that Greenbrier previously disclosed on Jan. 7, 2015.
Greenbrier Cos. Chairman and CEO William A. Furman said, "Our strategy to diversify our product offerings, invest in efficient, flexible and lower cost facilities, and to drive more volume through our lease syndication and asset management business continues to pay off. Since the beginning of our fiscal year on September 1, 2014, we have received orders for 24,200 new railcar units valued at $2.33 billion, across multiple railcar types. Deliveries will extend beyond calendar 2016, with nearly 80% of these orders for railcars that serve non-energy related markets. Recent orders include a significant multi-year order, a testament to the positive outlook and strong industry fundamentals for the foreseeable future."
"We anticipate the regulatory picture for tank cars transporting hazardous materials will be clarified with final U.S. and Canadian government actions to occur no later than mid-May," Furman said, acknowleding the fluid state of regulatory affairs in both nations. "We expect Greenbrier's Tank Car of the Future will be adopted as the new standard and an additional wave of new tank car orders and tank car retrofits will occur, regardless of oil prices," he said.
Furman added, "Our business is well-balanced, and our strong order book provides us good visibility through calendar 2016 and beyond. We remain committed to operational excellence in each of our businesses and enhancing the long-term trajectory of key metrics, including financial goals of at least 20% aggregate gross margin and 25% ROIC by the second half of fiscal 2016. We will continue to take a balanced approach to reinvesting in high rate of return projects in our core businesses, seeking acquisitions within our core competencies, and returning capital to shareholders."