Thor Announces $1.50 Special Dividend, Accelerates Payment of January Dividend

Thor Industries

today announced that its Board of Directors approved, at their December 11, 2012 meeting, a special cash dividend of $1.50 per share payable on the Company's common shares. The Company also announced that the Board of Directors has approved an acceleration of the payment of Thor's regular quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share from January 2013 to December 2012. Both the special dividend and regular dividend are payable on December 28, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 21, 2012. "The payment of a special dividend reflects the confidence of the Board of Directors in the strong cash position of Thor's balance sheet and the future performance of our Company," said Peter B. Orthwein, Thor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "With cash of more than $4 per share as of October 31, 2012, we believe we have adequate resources to invest in capital projects while providing an important cash return to our shareholders. In addition, given the current uncertainty surrounding the direction of future tax policy, the Board thought it prudent to pay the special dividend and our next regular dividend in December to take advantage of current tax rates." Thor is the sole owner of operating subsidiaries that, combined, represent the world's largest manufacturer of recreation vehicles and is a major builder of commercial buses and ambulances. This release includes certain statements that are "forward looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward looking statements involve uncertainties and risks. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from our expectations. Factors which could cause materially different results include, among others, price fluctuations, material or chassis supply restrictions, legislative and regulatory developments, the costs of compliance with increased governmental regulation, legal issues, the potential impact of increased tax burdens on our dealers and retail consumers, lower consumer confidence and the level of discretionary consumer spending, interest rate increases, restrictive lending practices, recent management changes, the success of new product introductions, the pace of acquisitions, cost structure improvements, competition and general economic conditions and the other risks and uncertainties discussed more fully in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2012 and Part II, Item 1A of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended October 31, 2012. We disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward looking statements contained in this release or to reflect any change in our expectations after the date of this release or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based except as required by law.