UPDATE 2-Winnebago reports wider fiscal 4th-qtr loss
* Reports fiscal Q4 loss of $1.73 a share
* Sales fall 30 percent
* Says backlogs up, dealer replenishment cycle at hand (Adds company comments on inventories, backlog)
CHICAGO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Winnebago Industries Inc (WGO.N) said on Thursday its quarterly loss widened as tight credit and the housing slump weighed on consumer demand for its pricey motor homes.
But dealer inventories declined and the company expressed confidence that retailers would need to start to ordering soon to satisfy retail demand, suggesting a rebound might be in the making.
Its sales order backlog at the end of the quarter was up 58 percent from the comparable period last year and up 146 percent from the previous quarter, driven by demand for its biggest and most profitable vehicles.
In a statement, Bob Olson, the company's chief executive, said that growing backlog might "be a sign that the replenishment process is now beginning."
The company reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $50.2 million, or $1.73 a share, compared with a loss of $12.7 million, or 44 cents a share, a year before.
Sales fell 30 percent to $59.5 million.
The net loss for the quarter included a non-cash tax-related charge of $41.1 million, or $1.41 a share.
Excluding that charge, Winnebago's loss was $5.4 million, or 19 cents per diluted share. Analysts, on average, had expected the Forest City, Iowa-based company to report a loss of 24 cents a share on sales of $57.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by James Kelleher, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Derek Caney)
