Allison Transmission Holdings Inc., a global provider of commercial duty fully-automatic transmissions, reported net sales for the fourth quarter of $647 million, a 10 percent increase from the same period in 2017. The increase in net sales was principally driven by higher demand in the Outside North America Off-Highway and North America On-Highway end markets.
Net Income for the quarter was $147 million compared to $215 million for the same period in 2017. Fourth quarter 2017 included a one-time income tax benefit of $152 million as a result of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted into law in December 2017. Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, for the quarter was $261 million compared to $210 million for the same period in 2017. Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities for the quarter was $232 million compared to $166 million for the same period in 2017. Adjusted Free Cash Flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, for the quarter was $184 millioncompared to $115 million for the same period in 2017.
David Graziosi, president and chief executive officer of Allison Transmission commented, “I am pleased to report that 2018 was a record year for Allison Transmission. Full year results exceeded our initial Net Sales guidance ranges across all of our end markets. Furthermore, Allison achieved record levels of Net Sales, Net Income, Adjusted EBITDA, Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities and Adjusted Free Cash Flow. Full year net sales growth of 20 percent was surpassed, by even stronger growth in Net Income, up 27 percent, Diluted EPS, up 42 percent and Adjusted EBITDA, up 30 percent. And notably, double digit growth was realized in the Outside North America On-Highway end market for the third consecutive year.” Graziosi continued, “Throughout the year, we continued our well-defined approach to capital structure and allocation. During the fourth quarter, we paid a dividend of $0.15 per share and settled $153 million of share repurchases, resulting in $609 million of total share repurchases in 2018 or approximately 10 percent of our outstanding shares.”
