The Milwaukee-based company posted a fourth-quarter net profit of $75.4 million, or 34 cents a share, up from $70.6 million, or 31 cents a share, last year.

Overall revenue from bikes, parts and accessories, financial services and apparel rose 1.5 percent to $1.2 billion, Harley-Davidson said.

Analysts, on average, expected the company to report a profit of 34 cents a share on sales of $1.04 billion.

Harley-Davidson, which sells its bikes through a global network of about 1,500 independent dealers, said it shipped 46,618 motorcycles to dealers during the quarter, down from 47,067 in the year-ago period.

But demand rose during the quarter and dealer retail motorcycle sales were up nearly 6 percent. Sales rose in every region except Latin America, where they fell nearly 3 percent, the company said.