Commented Twomey: On behalf of the board, I want to thank Claude for nearly six years of service to Arctic Cat, first as president and chief operating officer, and then as CEO for the last three years. During his tenure, Arctic Cat has grown from $465 million to over $700 million in annual sales, and the company entered the growing sports segment of the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle (ROV) market, with a line of side-by-side Wildcat" pure-sport and trail models.

Claude and the board have mutually decided this is the right time, however, for new executive leadership at the company. It makes sense to set up the leadership team that will take the company forward to a successful future, as we enter a new fiscal year. Tim Delmore, CFO, has agreed to postpone his previously announced retirement during this transition period. We anticipate appointing a new CEO and CFO in the coming months.

Twomey served as Arctic Cats CEO from 1986 to 2010. He was named a director of the company in 1987 and was board chair from 2003 to 2012. During that time, Twomey led Arctic Cat through an initial public offering in 1990, grew revenues from $7.5 million to a peak of $780 million in 2007, entered the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) business and expanded the companys capabilities to include engine manufacturing at a new facility in St. Cloud, Minn.

We expect to record a charge in the fiscal 2015 first quarter to cover severance-related costs. Excluding the severance, we are maintaining our fiscal 2015 guidance. The company is in strong financial shape and the board has every confidence in Arctic Cats long-term growth prospects. We remain focused on growing through a robust pipeline of innovative new products and technologies, international expansion and market share gains, as well as enhancing profitability by achieving greater operating efficiencies.

An executive search firm is being retained to assist in filling the CEO position.