SOUTHFIELD — Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP), the largest manufacturer of aluminum wheels for passenger cars and light-duty vehicles in North America, reported net income of $4.3 million or 16 cents a share on sales of $173.7 million in the first fiscal quarter ended March 29.
Both figures are down from the prior year’s first quarter, ended March 30, 2014 — net income of $4.8 million or 18 cents a share on revenue of $183.4 million.
“We remain confident in the targets we set at the beginning of the year,” president and CEO Don Stebbins said. “While we anticipate second quarter shipment volume will be down compared to last year, the volume comparisons are expected to improve in the second half of the year.”
The company said net income for the most recent quarter was impacted by lower unit shipments, costs associated with the closure of the manufacturing facility in Rogers, Ark., the sale of the company’s airplane, and costs associated with the ramp-up and start-up of operations at its new wheel manufacturing plant in Mexico.
The company said the decrease in sales was primarily attributable to lower unit sales volume and was partially offset by higher aluminum prices, which are generally passed through to the customer. Unit shipments were 2.5 million in the first quarter of 2015 versus 2.8 million in the same period a year ago, partially reflective of delayed demand related to certain vehicle programs.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the first quarter of 2015 were $7.6 million, or 4.3 percent of net sales, down from $7.9 million, or 4.3 percent of net sales in the 2014 first quarter. The decrease is primarily attributable to reduced severance costs and a gain on the sale of an idle warehouse, partially offset by higher legal and employee termination costs.
During the first quarter of 2015, the Company reported net cash used in operating activities of $1 million compared to net cash used by operating activities of $10.7 million in the same period last year.
Superior expects to report net sales in the range of $725 million to $800 million. for the year.
To listen to a replay of a conference call and a slide presentation covering these results, visit www.supind.com.
Superior also announced that all seven of its board of director nominees had prevailed over a slate of directors proposed by the Rye, N.Y. private equity firm GAMCO investors Inc.
The company said that at its annual shareholders meeting Tuesday — where more than 92 percent of Superior’s 27 million outstanding shares were represented — none of GAMCO’s nominees received more than 3 percent of shareholder votes, excluding GAMCO’s stake in the company. As of April 20, GAMCO owned 7.7 percent of Superior stock.
Further details regarding the results of the 2015 Annual Meeting will be contained in a Current Report on Form 8-K that Superior will be filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This filing will be available at no charge at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov.