BRIEF-Harley-Davidson Sees Full-Year International Retail Sales Growth
April 24 (Reuters) - Harley-Davidson Inc:
* EXPECT NEW THAILAND MANUFACTURING PLANT TO BEGIN PRODUCTION LATER THIS YEAR - CONF CALL
* HARLEY-DAVIDSON - CONTINUE TO EXPECT FY RETAIL SALES TO BE DOWN IN U.S, BUT AT A SLOWER RATE THAN THAT IN Q1, SEES GROWTH IN INTERNATIONAL RETAIL SALES
* HARLEY-DAVIDSON - PLAN TO INVEST ABOUT $75 MILLION OF CAPITAL AND EXPECT ANNUAL ONGOING CASH SAVINGS OF BETWEEN $65 MILLION TO $75 MILLION AFTER 2020 - CONF CALL
* HARLEY-DAVIDSON - EXPECT Q2 MANUFACTURING OPTIMIZATION CHARGES TO BE ABOUT $20 MILLION - CONF CALL
* HARLEY-DAVIDSON - EXPECT FIRST HALF SHIPMENTS TO BE DOWN 11% TO 14%, EXPECT BACK HALF SHIPMENTS TO BE UP ROUGHLY 12% - CONF CALL
* HARLEY-DAVIDSON - SINCE ANNOUNCEMENT OF TARIFF ON IMPORTED STEEL, ALUMINUM IN U.S., AND MIDDLE OF FEB, SEEN ALUMINUM, STEEL PRICES RISE EVEN FURTHER
* HARLEY-DAVIDSON - EXPECT ADDITIONAL $15 MILLION TO $20 MILLION ON TOP OF RISING RAW MATERIALS THAT WE EXPECTED AT THE START OF THE YEAR
* HARLEY-DAVIDSON - THERE IS NO CHANGE TO OUR PRICING DUE TO THE TARIFFS AT THIS POINT - CEO ON CONF CALL
* HARLEY-DAVIDSON - NOT SEEN ANY IMPACT OF TARIFFS ON OUR SALES EITHER IN THE UNITED STATES OR INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
* HARLEY-DAVIDSON- ON EUROPEAN UNION’S RETALIATORY TARIFFS, CO SAYS KEEPING CLOSE EYE, WORKING WITH TRADE GROUPS, VARIOUS TRADE OFFICIALS IN BOTH COUNTRIES
* HARLEY-DAVIDSON - SOFTAILS HAVE HIT THE MARKET AND OUR TEST RIDES AND CONVERSION RATES CONTINUE TO IMPROVE IN MANY OF OUR INTERNATIONAL MARKETS Further company coverage: