Paccar's profit declines 19.4%

The hangover from last year's truck-buying binge weighed down Paccar's financial results, with second-quarter profit falling 19.4 percent to $298.3 million, the company reported this morning.

In its report, the Bellevue-headquartered truck maker further trimmed its estimate for industrywide North American sales this year. That, combined with investor worries that new-order weakness would persist into 2008, sent Paccar shares down 4.6 percent in today's trading.

Revenue at Paccar's core truck and parts business fell nearly 13 percent in the second quarter, to $3.43 billion. Much of that decline was attributed to heavy buying last year in advance of new emissions rules; many of those "pre-bought" trucks have yet to be fully used, Paccar Chief Executive Mark Pigott said.

Paccar's per-share earnings of $1.19 beat the Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.08, as compiled by Bloomberg News.

Sales in Europe, Mexico and Australia have continued to be strong, Pigott said in a conference call, and its financial-services and parts businesses have helped cushion the impact of lower domestic new-truck sales.

However, the company said it now expects total Class 8 truck sales in the United States and Canada this year to be between 180,000 and 210,000 — close to half what they were last year, and down from the 190,000-220,000 range that Paccar estimated last quarter.

Paccar shares closed down $4.51 at $92.71 today.

Drew DeSilver: 206-464-3145 or ddesilver@seattletimes.com