STOCKHOLM — Sweden’s Autoliv, the world’s largest producer of airbags and seatbelts, swung to a robust working income in the middle of the second quarter, nevertheless scaled once more its full-year guidance as component shortages crimped automotive manufacturing.
Autoliv on Friday reported an working income of $164 million in distinction with a $234 million working loss throughout the year-ago quarter when many automakers idled quite a lot of weeks of producing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Full product sales surged 93 % to $2.0 billion. The company generated web earnings of $105 million in distinction with a $174 million loss a 12 months previously.
Airbag revenue doubled to $1.3 billion whereas seatbelt enterprise grew 81 % to $712 million.
Autoliv is the first most important world auto supplier to place up its second-quarter outcomes, with quite a lot of additional scheduled to report over the following few weeks.
Whereas the demand restoration from the market plunge throughout the early months of the pandemic has been sturdy, a worldwide shortage of semiconductors has hit the automotive sector laborious, forcing many automakers and their suppliers to curtail manufacturing plans.
CEO Mikael Bratt said in a press launch that lower-than-expected mild automotive manufacturing dinged the company’s product sales and profitability throughout the quarter.
“The low visibility of these modifications prevented us from using furloughs efficiently to mitigate the implications of the lower purchaser demand,” he said.
“Although the state of affairs improved in path of the tip of the quarter, we nonetheless rely on present disruptions to impression (mild automotive manufacturing) negatively throughout the third quarter with some enchancment throughout the fourth quarter.”
Bratt suggested Reuters there had been few clear indicators the semiconductor shortage, which has moreover seen Autoliv step in to assist its private suppliers of their efforts to provide chips, was set to be significantly redressed throughout the near time interval.
“Our biggest estimate correct now may very well be that quarter two was the worst degree of this downside,” Bratt said. “It’s troublesome to know the exact lead events for this disadvantage, nevertheless I’d not rule out that it will have some impression moreover heading into 2022.”
The $164 million purchase lagged a indicate forecast for a $186 million income based on a poll of analysts revealed by the company.
The rival of ZF and Joyson Safety Strategies lowered its 2021 guidance for like-for-like product sales growth to 16-18 % from spherical 20 % and as well as scaled once more its forecast for profitability whereas it moreover flagged steepening raw supplies costs.
Autoliv shares fell in European shopping for and promoting and dropped 5.6 % to $89.65 in premarket shopping for and promoting in New York on Friday morning.
Autoliv ranks No. 31 on the Automotive Data itemizing of the best 100 world suppliers with worldwide product sales to automakers of $7.4 billion in 2020.
Reuters and Philip Nussel of Automotive Data contributed to this report.