Nexteer Automotive said Tuesday that revenue and profit fell in the first half as a result of the coronavirus pandemic but cost and investment controls helped mitigate some of the impact.
The supplier of steering and driveline systems squeezed out a net profit of $1 million in the first half, a 99 percent drop from a year ago. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 58 percent to $116 million.
Revenue declined 34 percent to $1.2 billion in the first half compared with last year.
Nexteer CFO Bill Quigley said Tuesday in a call with analysts that the company’s cost controls were effective in limiting some of the pandemic’s impact on EBITDA.
“It’s quite the accomplishment,” he said, considering auto production in the U.S. and Mexico was shut down for about two months.
By region, revenue fell 38 percent in North America, 26 percent in Europe and 24 percent in Asia.
“We are cautiously optimistic that the second half of 2020 will reflect a recovery in OEM vehicle production compared with the first half of the year,” CEO Guibin Zhao said in a statement. “Nexteer has a robust, proven technology and product portfolio to support industry megatrends like electrification, advanced safety and performance, software and more and is well-positioned to support OEMs’ priorities as the industry moves through these challenging times.”
The company launched 19 new customer programs in the first half of 2020 and said it anticipates all 2021 products to launch, some with minor schedule changes.
For the second half of the year, Nexteer said it will continue to make cash management a top priority and maintain discretionary cost controls.
Nexteer, based in Auburn Hills, Mich., ranks No. 63 on Automotive News’ list of the top 100 global suppliers, with worldwide parts sales to automakers of $3.58 billion in 2019.
