Thursday, Auto parts supplier Dana Holding Corp. (DAN) reported that a narrower net loss for the second quarter, despite a 49% decline in net sales. The company attributed the reduction in loss to cost-cutting efforts, including workforce reduction, and better pricing.
The Toledo, Ohio-based company's net loss available to common stockholders narrowed to $8 million or $0.08 per share from $130 million or $1.28 per share in the year-ago period.
Net sales for the quarter dropped 49% year-over-year to $1.19 billion from $2.33 billion, on lower vehicle production across all market segments, particularly within the off-highway sector, reflecting the continued weak demand.
"Despite this difficult environment, our aggressive efforts to resize our organization, implement permanent structural improvements, and address pricing continued to take hold. These actions resulted in substantial profit and cash flow improvements compared to the prior quarter, despite slightly lower sales," said Executive Chairman John Devine.
During the second quarter, Dana reduced its global workforce by approximately 1,400 employees, which lead to cost savings and operational improvement.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and restructuring, or EBITDA, fell to $94 million from $164 million last year. During the quarter, the company reduced debt by 10% to $129 million primarily through market purchases made at a discount to par.
On a year-to-date basis, the company reported a net loss of $157 million compared with income of $537 million in the prior-year period. Sales for the first half year dipped to $2.40 billion from $4.64 billion for the same period in 2008.
DAN is currently trading up 6.64% at $4.98 on the NYSE
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