The company reported a fourth-quarter net profit of $186.1 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with $252.4 million, or 97 cents a share, last year.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Harley-Davidson Inc <HOG.N> said on Friday that its quarterly earnings fell 26 percent as sales of its iconic motorcycles tumbled in the United States, its biggest and most important market.
The company reported a fourth-quarter net profit of $186.1 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with $252.4 million, or 97 cents a share, last year.
Sales fell 7.7 percent to $1.39 billion, the company said, pulled down by a 14.2 percent decline in U.S. retail sales.
Analysts, on average, expected the Milwaukee-based company to report a profit of 81 cents a share on sales of $1.34 billion.
!ADVERTISEMENT!(Reporting by James B. Kelleher; Editing by Derek Caney)
