Navistar International shareholders want the company to remove a "poison pill" defense against hostile takeovers, following reports of a fourth-quarter loss of $35 million.

Navistar International reported a $35 million loss on sales and revenues of $1.5 billion for its first fiscal quarter ending Jan. 31, 2001. For the same period last year the company had record earnings of $70 million on sales and revenues of $2.2 billion.
Chairman John Horne said that continued weak new and used truck pricing, coupled with lower new truck shipments, impacted results in the first quarter. He also said that until dealer inventory is at levels that reflect current demand, the company intends to keep production levels below retail sales.
The company has lowered its forecast for industry heavy trucks sales in fiscal 2001. It had originally predicted that demand in the U.S. and Canada would total 181,600 units but has dropped that to 144,000 units. It still expects medium duty demand to be around 108,000 units for the year.
“While leading indicators such as truck tonnage seem to be stabilizing, this year will still be challenging, with real improvement expected in the fourth quarter,” Horne said.
According to published reports, the proposal to remove the takeover defense and make it easier to consider offers for the company received 79 percent of the 43 million shares voted at the company's annual meeting in Chicago. Horne said the non-binding vote will be considered at the copmany's next board meeting.