Strong demand boosts Winnebago results, shares jump

(Reuters) - Winnebago Industries Inc , the largest U.S. motor home maker, reported stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue for the first quarter, driving its shares up as much as 15 percent.

The company said its motorhome order backlog had more than tripled from a year earlier to 2,118 units as of December 1.

"We have continued to increase our production schedule and have hired additional employees to meet this improved demand during the last two fiscal quarters," Chief Executive Randy Potts said in a statement on Thursday.

Winnebago introduced new low-priced models after the 2008 recession reduced demand for higher-end motorhomes costing up to $350,000.

Net income rose to $7.4 million, or 26 cents per share from $1 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 47 percent to $193.6 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 10 cents per share on revenue of $155.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Winnebago shares were up 14.6 percent at $16.14 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)