UPDATE 3-Monaco Coach posts surprise Q1 loss; shares plummet

(Adds details from conference call)

By Amulya Nagaraj

BANGALORE, April 23 (Reuters) - U.S. recreational vehicle maker Monaco Coach Corp MNC.N posted a surprise quarterly loss, hurt by lower sales and a fall in consumer lending, and forecast a loss for the second quarter, sending its shares to a lifetime low.

Monaco Coach is planning to cut jobs across the company and further reduce production to return to profitability, Chief Executive Kay Toolson said in a statement.

"By reducing production, they hope to increase their backlog and there would be less discounting, and their margins should improve a bit," Analyst Frank Magdlen at Robins Group said by phone. He has a "hold" rating on the stock.

The company posted a first-quarter loss of $8.5 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.5 million, or 5 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell about 22 percent to $252.4 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 3 cents a share on revenue of $274.7 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

The first-quarter loss was mostly the result of a continuing deterioration in large motorhome sales and the attempts by the company to continue to try and match its capacity and production with the negative trends, analyst Mike Roarke at McAdams Wright Ragen said by phone.

Monaco Coach shares fell as much as 23 percent to $6.50 but pared some of the losses and were trading down 17 percent at $6.98 in late afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

LOSS OUTLOOK

Monaco Coach, which also sells towable recreational vehicles, forecast a second-quarter loss of 15 cents to 20 cents per share.

Analysts were looking for a profit of 13 cents a share for the period.

Sales at its motorized recreational vehicle segment, which accounts for most of the company's sales, is expected to continue to be challenging in terms of wholesale demand during the coming months, Monaco Coach said.

The segment saw a 21 percent fall in sales at $194.7 million in the latest first quarter.

The company, in a conference call with analysts, said it is launching new lightweight, fuel-efficient products in the near future.