DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Navistar International Corp. (NAV) swung to a fiscal third-quarter loss as the truck and engine maker posted lower revenue and margins while reporting its trucking segment swung to an operating loss.

Shares fell 3.2% to $44.20 in after-hours trading Wednesday as the results badly missed expectations. The stock has more than doubled in value so far this year. Still, the stock has lost about a quarter of its value from its 52-week high last September.

Heavy-duty vehicles such as buses and big trucks have seen a sales slump, but has picked up some of that slack from its military business. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services last month declined to cut the company's junk-level ratings, saying the company was outperforming its peers and gaining market share.

For the quarter ended July 31, Navistar reported a loss of $12 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $331 million, or $4.47 a share.

Revenue decreased 37% to $2.51 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 70 cents a share on revenue of $2.67 billion.

Gross margin slumped to 15.4% from 22.8%.

By segment, the trucking segment swung to an operating loss of $28 million from a year-earlier profit of $417 million, while the engine business surged ninefold to $45 million. The parts business saw its profit jump 82% to $93 million.

Navistar again affirmed its retail-sales forecast for Class 6-8 trucks and school buses in the U.S. and Canada, maintaining its range of 165,000 to 185,000. It also expects 2010 industry volumes to improve slightly to 175,000 to 215,000 units.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; john.kell@dowjones.com