Wednesday, Auto parts supplier Gentex Corp. (GNTX) reported a loss for the first-quarter, compared to a profit last year, hurt by sharp decline in revenues, reduced operating margin and weak production environment. In addition, the company currently expects double-digit decline in second-quarter revenue citing lower production forecast.
Gentex posted first-quarter net loss of $1.56 million, compared to net profit of $30.45 million in the previous year. Loss per share was $0.01, compared to a profit per share of $0.21 in the first quarter of 2008.
On average, 8 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.02 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Income from operations dropped 95% to $2.19 million from $39.98 million in the same quarter of 2008, primarily due to the decline in the gross margin.
The company recorded other expense of $4.58 million in the recent quarter, compared to an income of $5.47 million a year ago, primarily due to realized losses on the sale of equity investments and lower investment income due to lower interest rates during the quarter.
Quarterly net sales declined 47% to $93.83 million from $177.97 million in the prior-year quarter. Wall street analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $104.71 million for the quarter.
Gentex's automotive revenues decreased 48% to $89 million from $172.1 million in the first quarter of 2008. Fire Protection revenues dropped 17% to $4.9 million, mainly due to the weak commercial construction market.
Total auto-dimming mirror unit shipments were down by 50% in the first quarter of 2009 from a year before. Auto-dimming mirror unit shipments in North America decreased 56%, as a result of significantly lower light vehicle production and North American light vehicle production declined 52%.
The company noted that the continued weak automotive production environment carried through the first quarter, resulted in a very weak sales for Gentex.
Going forward, Gentex currently expects revenues in the second quarter to decline by about 30%. Additionally, the company now forecasts light vehicle production to decline by 40% in North America including a 42% decline in total light truck/SUV production, a 29% decrease in Europe and 33% decline in Japan and Korea.
Further, the company said that it has a share repurchase plan in place with authorization to repurchase up to 28 million shares of its common stock.
GNTX is currently trading at $11.85, down 1.00%.
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