STOCKHOLM — Auto technology supplier Veoneer posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly operating loss on Friday and stood by its forecast for reduced full-year losses despite the coronavirus crisis.
The maker of radar and vision systems reported a $64 million operating loss, improving from a $137 million loss a year ago and well above the $134 million loss forecast in a poll of analysts published on the company’s website.
Net sales plunged 62 percent to $184 million. The company said the organic sales decline was 53 percent.
Veoneer has moved to cut staff and furloughed still more while also trimming spending on R&D, which is expected to drop by more than $100 million from last year.
The auto industry, which was already grappling with slowing demand and mounting costs for the shift to electric vehicles and advanced automation before the pandemic hit, was particularly hard hit early in the quarter as production was halted in many markets by widespread lockdowns.
Sweden-based Veoneer, which competes with Aptiv , Bosch and Continental, said customers in Europe and North America had gradually ramped up output during the latter part of the second quarter.
“Despite the extreme conditions in the quarter, our market adjustment initiatives are having the desired effects and we are currently on track to reach our efficiency targets for 2020,” CEO and Chairman Jan Carlson said in a statement.
The company, which makes vision systems, radar and software for advanced driver-assistance systems and supplies automakers such as Daimler, Ford and Honda , said it still expects sales this year to outpace light-vehicle production.
Automotive News contributed to this report.
