The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that North America's warmest winter on record put a chill on snowmobile sales at BRP, which saw profits plummet last quarter as a result. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe quotes chief executive officer Jose Boisjoli saying: "I have been in the business for a long time and saw several challenging seasons. But it's the first time that I've seen such difficult conditions." The Ski-Doo maker plans to cut snowmobile production by 30 per cent this year owing to the buildup of inventory languishing in retailers' stockrooms across Canada and the United States. Profits fell 48.5 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, the Valcourt, Que., company reported. BRP posted net income of $188.2-million for the quarter, down from $365.1-million a year earlier. Revenue fell to $2.69-billion from $3.08-billion the year before. On a normalized basis, BRP earned $2.46 a diluted share in its latest quarter compared with a normalized profit of $3.85 a diluted share a year earlier. Seasonal product sales dropped by more than a quarter; total revenue declined 12.5 per cent. The company also raised its dividend to 21 cents per share per quarter, up from 18 cents.