Electronic Products & Technology

Chip shortages hammer Toronto auto part maker

By The Canadian Press, Toronto   

Electronics Semiconductors Supply Chain semiconductors supply Chain

Martinrea International loses nearly $10 million in Q4 due to lack of semiconductors

Toronto-based Martinrea International Inc., a leading tier one automotive supplier of vehicle parts, assemblies and modules, missed its earnings expectations as the firm swung to a near $10-million loss in the fourth quarter on continuing challenges from a global semiconductor shortage.

The firm says it lost $9.65-million or 12 cents per share, compared with a profit of $45 million or 56 cents per share a year earlier. Revenues for the three months ended Dec. 31 slipped 1.6 per cent to $1.05 billion from $1.07 billion in the final quarter of 2020. Analysts on average forecast that Martinrea would earn 14 cents per share on $905.8 million in revenues, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.

Despite the weaker fourth quarter, Martinrea earned $35.9 million or 45 cents per share on $3.78 billion of revenues in 2021, compared with a loss of $27.3 million or 34 cents per share on $3.38 billion of revenues in 2020. The company says the fourth-quarter results are better than the third quarter and are expected to be “notably better” in the first quarter with higher volumes and a more stable production environment.

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Expect results to continue improving

“While we are not out of the woods yet, and uncertainty remains, we expect our results will continue to improve throughout the year, as supply issues are resolved, and our cadence of launch activity normalizes,” stated CEO Pat D’Eramo in a news release.

The company says it has successfully concluded negotiations with some customers to recover a portion of inflationary costs and is continuing talks with others.

Near all-time low

Executive chairman Rob Wildeboer added that it continues to believe it can achieve 2023 targets because demand for vehicles remains robust while inventories are near all-time lows.

“We believe this sets the stage for a multi-year period of strong industry volume growth once supply chain conditions improve.”

 

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