Viasystems moves in right direction

The company reported a second quarter loss of USD 10.3 million – compared with a USD 33 million loss in last quarter previous year, and a loss of USD 13.3 million during the first quarter of 2013. “While consolidated net sales for our second quarter were in line with analysts’ expectations, our earnings came in slightly below,” noted Viasystems’ Chief Executive Officer, David M. Sindelar. “However, I believe we gained momentum in the quarter and still expect to see sales and earnings improvements in the second half of the year." Highlights

• Net sales were USD 285.6 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2013, a year-over-year decrease of 3.8%, and a sequential increase over the immediately preceding quarter of 4.6%.
• Giving pro forma effect to the May 2012 acquisition of DDi Corp., net sales for the quarter ended June 30, 2013, declined 16.2% year-over-year.
• Operating income in the quarter ended June 30, 2013, was USD 4.5 million, or 1.6% of net sales.
• Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter ended June 30, 2013, was USD 30.7 million, or 10.8% of net sales, compared with USD 44.7 million, or 15.0% of net sales, in the quarter ended June 30, 2012, and compared with USD 29.5 million, or 10.8% of net sales, in the immediately preceding quarter.

“Like all manufacturers with a significant presence in China, we continue to face the challenges of increasing employment costs, and several provinces in China increased wages during the second quarter,” commented Sindelar. “In addition, we incurred costs for the new project ramp ups as well as increased priority shipping caused by capacity limitations related to last year’s site closure and factory fire in China. We expect the adverse cost effects of project ramp ups and priority shipping to decline following improved efficiencies in our manufacturing processes.”