(By Balachander) Truck maker Navistar International Corp. (NYSE:NAV) posted a sharply lower quarterly profit as a hefty income tax benefit boosted results in the year-ago period.
The Lisle, Illinois-based company's revenue fell 6 percent to $3.3 billion in the third quarter due to a decline in sales in its U.S. and Canada truck and engine segments.
However, top-line came in better than market expectations.
Navistar, which is struggling to meet current U.S. emission rules for its new heavy-duty truck engine, had last month said it was taking actions, including reduction of jobs, to cut costs.
The company, which recently withdrew its fiscal 2012 guidance, earned $84 million or $1.22 per share for the quarter, compared with $1.4 billion or $18.24 per share in the comparable period of last year.
Income tax benefit of $196 million and $1.48 billion were recorded in the current quarter and prior-year period, respectively.
Wall Street analysts, on average, expected NAV to lose $1.36 per share on revenue of $2.96 billion.
Navistar's truck segment posted a loss of $30 million amid "deteriorating" industry volumes, the company said. Its engine segment also recorded a loss of $47 million due to lower sales volumes in South America, resulting from a pre-buy of pre-Euro V emissions engines in the third quarter of 2011.
The stock, which has been trading in the 52-week range of $19.79 to $48.18, closed at $20.41 on Wednesday.