UPDATE 3-OshKosh warns of looming loss, stock falls 33 pct
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  (Adds analyst quote, details, paragraphs 6-8)\nBy Scott Malone\nBOSTON, June 26 (Reuters) - Specialty U.S. truck maker\nOshKosh Corp <OSK.N> warned investors on Thursday that it now\nexpects to report a loss in the third quarter, citing a slowing\neconomy and weakness in the nonresidential construction market\nin North America and Europe, and its stock tumbled 33 percent.\nOshKosh said it would seek to impose price increases across\na broad range of its products, which include fire trucks,\ncement mixers and other heavy vehicles, over the next few\nmonths as it seeks to offset the effects of surging energy and\nmaterials prices.\nIts shares were down $11.17 or 33 percent to $22.34 on the\nNew York Stock Exchange in afternoon trading after touching\n$22.20, the lowest point since 2003.\nThe company said it expects to record a loss per share of\n$1.22 to $1.32 for its fiscal quarter ending June 30, partly as\na result of a $175 million, or $2.32 per share, non-cash charge\nrelated to Geesink, its European garbage truck unit. Previously\nit had forecast a quarterly profit of $1.40 to $1.50 per\nshare.\n"General economic weakness, softness or expected softness\nin nonresidential construction, and rising material and fuel\ncosts have all taken a toll on customers in a number or our\nmarkets," said Robert Bohn, the Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based\ncompany's chairman and chief executive, on a conference call\nwith investors.\nOne key weak point was the company's JLG access-equipment\nunit, which makes lifts for workers who need to reach high\nobjects like billboards or street lights.\n"The magnitude of today's downward revision in access\nequipment's outlook is a surprise and highlights the speed at\nwhich JLG's business outlook has deteriorated," wrote BMO\nCapital Markets analyst Charles Brady, in a note to clients,\nwhile cutting his rating on the stock to "market perform" from\n"outperform."\nIts slide weighed down the shares of fellow heavy-equipment\nmakers, with Terex Corp <TEX.N> falling 8.8 percent to $53.95\nand Manitowoc Co Inc <MTW.N> down 7.6 percent to $33.99. Both\ntrade on the NYSE.\nJOINS THE CROWD\nOshKosh officials told investors that they had seen a sharp\ndownturn in European orders in the last two weeks. When\nRockwell Automation Inc <ROK.N>, a maker of systems to help\nfactories run more smoothly, on Wednesday cut its profit\nforecast, it also warned of a late-in-the-quarter slowdown.\nA growing list of U.S. companies in the past few weeks have\nbegun to warn investors that the deteriorating economic\nenvironment is taking a toll on business. Earlier this week,\nUnited Parcel Service Inc <UPS.N>, the world's largest\npackage-delivery company, cut its profit forecast.\nOshKosh also said it expects fourth-quarter profit to be\ndown from last year's $85.4 million, or $1.14 per share.\nAnalysts had expected profit of $1.48 for the third quarter\nand $1.45 for the fourth quarter, according to Reuters\nEstimates.\n"Except for a limited number of growth initiatives, we will\nbe pulling back on capital spending for the remainder of 2008\nand for 2009," said Bohn. "We will continue to look for ways to\nmanage our costs as we navigate our way through these trying\ntimes."\nOshKosh said it would not release 2009 financial forecasts\nuntil it reports its fourth fiscal quarter results later this\nyear.\nSo far this year, OshKosh shares are down 51 percent, a far\nsteeper drop than the 10 percent slide of the Dow Jones U.S.\ncommercial vehicles and trucks index <.DJUSHR>.\n(Editing by Dave Zimmerman and Gerald E. McCormick)\n((Boston.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; 1 617-367-4106; Reuters\nMessaging: scott.malone.reuters.com@reuters.net))\nKeywords: OSHKOSH/