Allison exceeds expectations with quarterly report

Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. on Monday afternoon reported fourth-quarter profit of $50.5 million and generally exceeded Wall Street expectations for the period.

The Indianapolis-based maker of transmissions for commercial and military vehicles said that its fourth quarter profit rose 17.7 percent from $42.9 million in the same quarter of 2013. Proft per share worked out to 28 cents, besting 24 cents in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Fourth-quarter earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and amortization costs, were 65 cents per share. The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 30 cents per share.

Allison posted revenue of $544.4 million in the fourth quarter, nearly 11 percent greater than $491 million in the same quarter of 2013. Analysts had expected $514.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Zacks.

Allison CEO Lewrence Dewey said sales increases were driven by the recovering North America on-highway and off-highway markets, and higher demand in service and support.

North American on-highway sales rose 22 percent in the quarter, to $256 million. North American off-highway sales jumped 157 percent, to $36 million. Service and support sales rose 13 percent, to $113 million.

North American hybrid-propulsion systems for transit buses slipped 47 percent to $17 million.

For all of 2014, the company reported profit of $228.6 million—a 38-percent increase from $165.4 million in 2013. Revenue for 2014 was reported as $2.13 billion—a 10.4-percent jump from $1.92 billion in 2013.

In trading late Tuesday morning, Allison shares declined 2.5 percent, to $31.69. They were down nearly 7 percent since the beginning of the year.