US: Lear plunges to Q3 loss

Interiors specialist Lear Corporation has posted a pretax third quarter loss of $US77.3m on net sales of $3.1bn.
 
This included restructuring costs of $45.8m and compares with net sales of $3.6bn and pretax income of $60.1m, including restructuring costs of $37.3m and other special items of $8.0m, for the third quarter of 2007.
 
Net loss was $98.2m, or $1.27 per share, compared with $41.0m, or $0.52 per share, a year ago.
 
Income before interest, other expense, income taxes, restructuring costs and other special items (core operating earnings) was $46.1m compared with $170.4m for the third quarter of 2007.
 
"The production environment in the third quarter was extremely challenging," the supplier said in a statement.
 
"In North America, industry production was down 17% and Lear's top 15 platforms were down 33%. In Europe, industry production was down 3% and [our] top five customers were down 8%.
 
"We are experiencing recessionary conditions in North America, and there is increasing weakness in Europe," said chairman and CEO Bob Rossiter. "As a result, industry production in these mature markets is down sharply. In response, the company has been very aggressive in reducing structural costs."
 
In the seating segment, net sales were down $403m.  Operating margins declined sharply, reflecting primarily the impact of lower vehicle production. In the electrical and electronic segment, net sales were down $38m and operating margins were about flat.
From: just-auto.com editorial team

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