Home » WABCO Q4 Sales $598.5 Million

WABCO Q4 Sales $598.5 Million

fleetnewsdaily | February 15, 2013

WABCO Holdings Inc. (www.wabco-auto.com), a global technology leader and tier-one supplier to the commercial vehicle industry, today reported Q4 2012 sales of $596.5 million, down 7.9 percent in local currencies from a year ago and down 11.2 percent in U.S. dollars.

“As previously stated, markets across all regions continued to be uncertain and unstable as global truck and bus production in Q4 2012 declined 12 percent year on year,” said Jacques Esculier, WABCO Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

“Western Europe, our largest market, continued its downturn as new truck and bus builds declined 15 percent versus a year ago. We also faced an accelerated downturn in India during this quarter as local truck and bus production contracted 26 percent year on year. However, WABCO still managed to outperform the global market in Q4 2012, including a superb performance in aftermarket sales, which grew by 9 percent compared to a year ago,” said Esculier.

WABCO reported Q4 2012 performance operating income of $75.0 million versus $90.5 million a year ago, and operating income was $69.0 million on a U.S. GAAP basis versus $90.5 million a year ago. Performance operating margin for Q4 2012 was 12.6 percent, down from 13.5 percent a year ago, and operating margin was 11.6 percent on a U.S. GAAP basis, down from 13.5 percent a year ago.

For Q4 2012, WABCO reported performance net income attributable to the company of $69.6 million or $1.08 per diluted share versus $80.7 million or $1.21 per diluted share a year ago, and Q4 2012 U.S. GAAP net income attributable to the company of $59.7 million or $0.93 per diluted share versus $69.8 million or $1.04 per diluted share a year ago.

During Q4 2012, WABCO generated $76.3 million in net cash from operating activities, resulting in free cash flow of $43.1 million. Excluding payments of $5.8 million for streamlining and separation activities, free cash flow was $48.9 million for the quarter.

“Consistent with many previous quarters, WABCO’s Operating System, one of our industry’s most advanced management environments, continued to yield high levels of productivity in Q4 2012,” said Esculier. “In total, we generated $16.3 million of materials and conversion productivity for the quarter as we efficiently flexed capacity to address changes in market demand, with gross materials productivity at 5.4 percent of total materials cost, and we delivered conversion productivity at 5.9 percent.”

For full year 2012, WABCO reported sales of $2,477.4 million, down 4.8 percent in local currencies from a year ago and down 11.3 percent in U.S. dollars, reflecting the industry’s downturn in key markets.

“While global truck and bus production declined 10 percent year on year, WABCO stayed on course and outperformed the market for yet another year,” said Esculier. “For full year 2012, WABCO also increased global aftermarket sales by 5 percent, reaching a new record for annual aftermarket revenues on a currency adjusted basis.”

WABCO reported full year 2012 performance operating income of $335.6 million versus $375.1 million a year ago, and operating income was $324.5 million on a U.S. GAAP basis versus $369.9 million a year ago. Full year 2012 performance operating margin was 13.5 percent, up from 13.4 percent a year ago, and operating margin was 13.1 percent on a U.S. GAAP basis, down from 13.2 percent a year ago.

“For full year 2012, WABCO’s operating margin of 13.5 percent on a performance basis delivered another year of record profitability, further demonstrating WABCO’s ability to anticipate and respond to the sudden industry downturn,” said Esculier.

WABCO reported full year 2012 performance net income attributable to the company of $291.6 million or $4.46 per diluted share versus $325.7 million or $4.73 per diluted share a year ago, and full year 2012 U.S. GAAP net income attributable to the company of $302.0 million or $4.62 per diluted share versus $357.0 million or $5.19 per diluted share a year ago.

“Throughout 2012, WABCO’s Operating System powered us toward new productivity records and enabled our fast and flexible responses to significant market changes quarter after quarter,” said Esculier. “In total, it delivered $66.6 million of materials and conversion productivity, resulting in an all-time record. Gross materials productivity in 2012 represented 5.3 percent of total materials cost. We also delivered another record for conversion productivity in 2012, reaching 6.2 percent for the year.”

WABCO generated $358.3 million in net cash from operating activities during full year 2012, resulting in free cash flow of $257.8 million. Excluding payments of $16.5 million for streamlining and separation activities, free cash flow was $274.3 million, which is a conversion rate of 94 percent of performance net income attributable to the company during full year 2012.

Since June 2011, WABCO has repurchased 7,051,349 shares for $379.4 million in open market transactions as of December 31, 2012. As previously disclosed, WABCO is authorized to repurchase up to $420.6 million of additional shares through December 31, 2014.

Recent Highlights

In January 2013, WABCO announced that it has won contracts to provide anti-lock braking systems (ABS) to 6 of Brazil’s leading trailer manufacturers. Together, these companies supply around 45 percent of the new trailers manufactured in Brazil, the single largest market in South America. As of January 2013, new ABS legislation took effect in Brazil to further increase vehicle and road safety.

The Meritor WABCO joint venture in North America said in January 2013 that it has been named the standard position steer-axle service brake-chamber supplier for all Daimler Trucks North America air brake vehicles. WABCO’s service brake-chambers allow reduced cost of ownership and increased payload capacity.

Also in January 2013, Meritor WABCO said that Schneider National has ordered more than 2,500 units of its OnGuard(TM) collision safety system as standard equipment for its new class 8 trucks. Schneider National operates one of the leading truckload, intermodal and transport fleets in North America. OnGuard is the first collision mitigation system introduced in North America, and as of December 2012, nearly 30,000 OnGuard systems have been sold there.

In January 2013, WABCO reported that it has been honored with 9 awards for superior performance in 2012 by 7 of China’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, including Baotou Bei Ben Heavy Duty Truck, Beiqi Foton Motor, FAW Jeifang Automotive and China National Heavy Duty Truck Group.

Meritor WABCO reported in Q4 2012 that it received the prestigious 2012 Platinum Supplier Award from Wabash National for excellence in supply chain performance, delivery, quality, cost effectiveness and innovation. Wabash National is a leading trailer manufacturer in North America. Meritor WABCO is the only supplier to win this award for five consecutive years.

In Q4 2012, WABCO INDIA sold approximately 2,500 retrofit anti-lock braking system (ABS) kits to India’s largest public sector oil companies: Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Castrol contracted trucks.

About WABCO

WABCO WBC +5.16% is a leading global supplier of technologies and control systems for the safety and efficiency of commercial vehicles. Founded over 140 years ago, WABCO continues to pioneer breakthrough electronic, mechanical and mechatronic technologies for braking, stability and transmission automation systems supplied to the world’s leading commercial truck, bus and trailer manufacturers. With sales of $2.5 billion in 2012, WABCO is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.