Navistar rises after report VW may purchase stake

Lisle-based Navistar International Corp., the maker of International brand trucks, rose as much as 9 percent after Financial Times Deutschland reported that Volkswagen AG may be in the early stages of considering acquiring a stake in the truckmaker.

Navistar gained 3.1 percent to $29.24 at 10:28 a.m. in New York, after reaching $30.90. The shares slid 25 percent this year through June 8 after falling 35 percent last year.

Michael Brendel, a Volkswagen spokesman, and Karen Denning, a Navistar spokeswoman, declined to comment about the Financial Times Deutschland report, which didn't specify how the information was obtained.

The company is struggling to meet 2010 federal emission standards for one of its truck engines. Navistar dropped 14 percent June 7 after the Lisle, Illinois-based truckmaker reported a second-quarter loss, excluding some costs, of $137 million, or $1.99 a share. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for a profit of 67 cents a share.

Last week, the company also lowered its full-year profit forecast to a range of break-even to $2 a share. Navistar in February forecast 2012 profit of as much as $5.75 a share. The company reduced the figure to as much as $5.25 a share in March.

Investor Carl Icahn separately last week disclosed in a regulatory filing he boosted his ownership in the company to 11.9 percent. Icahn's stake had been 10.6 percent.