(Montreal) Taiga Motors is banking on an acceleration in the production rate during the last three months of the year in order to achieve its 2023 production objectives, already revised downwards twice.
The snowmobile and watercraft maker delivered 351 recreational vehicles in the first nine months of the year. The Montreal company aims to deliver 1,000 in 2023.
The big boss of Taiga believes that the company will be able to accelerate the pace to reach this target. “We see that operations are on a good run in the fourth quarter, which gives us good hope of reaching production of 1,000 (vehicles) or more for the year,” said Monday the president and CEO and co-founder, Samuel Bruneau, during a conference call with analysts to discuss third-quarter results.
Mr. Bruneau specifies that Taiga had already “exceeded” the production threshold of 50 vehicles per week, reached in the third quarter. “For 2024, we are aiming for 75 or more per week. »
The company had twice lowered its delivery forecasts for the current financial year. Initially, the company planned to deliver 2,500 to 3,000 recreational vehicles. In March, it revised that forecast to a range of between 1,700 and 1,900 vehicles. Then, in October, she reduced the target to 1,000.
Management highlights that the launch of the Orca Performance watercraft model helped accelerate the operational efficiency of the production line in the third quarter. In a sign of possible improvement in future deliveries, the company says it produced 365 watercraft during the quarter.
Taiga’s inventory value increased to 32 million as of September 30 from 20.8 million in December 2022. The company attributes the increase to “high levels of finished goods” and the purchase of parts .
Taiga delivered 147 vehicles in the third quarter ended September 30, compared to 40 in the same period last year. The company thus more than tripled its revenues, which reached 4.2 million.
The company’s net loss was 20.2 million, compared to 15.5 million in the same period last year.
As of September 30, Taiga only had 5.8 million left in its coffers compared to 22.8 million at the end of 2022.
At the end of September, the company entered into a $15 million secured term loan agreement with Export Development Canada. Chief Financial Officer Éric Bussières expects the company to have used “between 10 million and 12 million” in the fourth quarter.
The stock returned to green, around noon, with a gain of 1 cent, or 0.88%, to $1.15 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Company in this dispatch: (TSX: TAIG)
