Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/523095
www.PowersportsBusiness.com FINANCIAL Powersports Business • June 15, 2015 • 13 Wolters Kluwer Financial Services announced that Banterra Bank has joined its AppOne platform, which helps expand dealer networks by connecting powersports, marine and recreational vehicle dealers with lenders to automate the funding process. The AppOne platform helps simplify the preparation of loan documents, automates credit application processing and connects dealers with lenders, thereby facilitating regulatory compliance, reducing costs and improving margins. The system serves both dealers and lenders. It reduces the number of contracts held up for funding, which means more satisfied clients leave the dealership with their purchases without delay. "Our dealer customers today are faced with increasingly challenging compliance requirements, and we are committed to help alleviate the burdens of complicated F&I functions," said Jeff May, president of Ban- terra Bank. "Joining the AppOne platform significantly improves our ability to meet the needs of our dealers, so they, in turn, can focus their energy on meeting the needs of their customers." "AppOne is a significant new tool that will help all parties meet compliance and legal requirements while simplifying the end-to- end process," he added. "We are committed to helping ease the compliance burden for our partners, so they can focus on growing their businesses safely and profitably," said Brad Fleener, senior director and general manager of Indirect Lending at Wolters Kluwer Financial Ser- vices. "AppOne will help Banterra Bank build their indirect loan portfolios and ensure a continued focus on their customers." YAMAHA INCREASES GLOBAL MOTORCYCLE NET SALES IN Q1 Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announced con- solidated business results for the first quarter. Net sales for the Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. consolidated accounting period in the first quarter of the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2015, were 386.2 billion yen, (an increase of 27.5 billion yen or 7.7 percent compared with the same quarter of the previous fiscal year). Operating income for the same period was 34.9 billion yen (an increase of 12.8 bil- lion yen/58.0 percent). Global net sales of motorcycle products were 243.5 billion yen (an increase of 18.0 bil- lion yen/8.0 percent compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year), and operat- ing income was 10 billion yen (an increase of 6.2 billion yen/164.2 percent). Unit sales increased in developed markets such as the U.S., where demand continues to recover, and Europe where the "MT-09 TRACER" is track- ing well. Conversely, in emerging markets, unit sales have decreased in Asia and Central and South America resulting in a decrease across the entire motorcycle segment. Net sales surged significantly thanks to increased sales of products in the higher price range in developed markets. Net sales of the marine segment were 80.7 billion yen (an increase overall of 9.5 billion yen/13.4 percent compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year). Net sales of power products were 29.5 billion yen (a decrease of 0.4 billion yen/1.3 percent com- pared with the same period of the previous fiscal year). Yamaha Motor aims to achieve increased sales by bolstering the line-up with new models that include the Wolverine — the new Rec- reational Off-highway Vehicle (ROV) launched in March. ANALYST: ARCTIC CAT LESS PRIMED FOR BUYOUT Arctic Cat's decision to invest $27 million into its manufactur- ing facilities in Minnesota "leads us to believe the likelihood of management 'cleaning up' the company for a sale is now lower, while the likelihood of it going alone is now higher. We had thought a buyout by an industry player, like China's CFMOTO, could be a possible positive end-game for investor," according to a research note provided to Pow- ersports Business by BMO Capital Markets analyst Gerrick Johnson. Johnson goes on to report that "[on] its own, ACAT's engineer and design teams have come up with some neat products and show- ing pluck against bigger and stronger com- petition with better distribution. But Arctic Cat is the sixth or seventh player in off-road and the third player in a four-player snow- mobile field, and its competition continues to get tougher, up against a dominant Polaris, growing BRP, reenergized Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki, as well as the venerable John Deere and upstarts like KYMCO from Taiwan and CFMOTO from China." Johnson adds that while BMO has been "encouraged by changes being made at the company and dealers' generally positive reac- tion to these changes, we think it is still too early to call the turnaround a success. In fact, post 4Q results, we are a bit more concerned that the dealer inventory reduction program and turnaround of the company will take lon- ger than originally expected. "Change will take time and maybe longer than investors may currently anticipate. Bit- ing the bullet and clearing excess inventory is a good first start, but aged inventory seems to be a symptom of a bigger cultural problem. Management has assured investors that a strategic road map was still in the process of development. We will get this roadmap on May 21, when the company hosts an investor/ analyst event in New York City." PSB DIGEST Wolters Kluwer adds Banterra Bank to AppOne With recently announced investments into its Minnesota manufactur- ing facilities, Arctic Cat no longer appears prepared for a buyout, analyst Gerrick Johnson reported.