China Automotive Systems (CAAS) Tops Q4 EPS by 2c, Revenues Beat

China Automotive Systems (NASDAQ: CAAS) reported Q4 EPS of $0.06, $0.02 better than the analyst estimate of $0.04. Revenue for the quarter came in at $115.9 million versus the consensus estimate of $111.3 million.

Fourth Quarter 2019 Highlights

• Net sales were $115.9 million compared with $124.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2018
• Gross profit was $16.8 million compared with $11.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018; gross margin was 14.5% compared with 9.6% in the fourth quarter of 2018
• Net income attributable to parent company's common shareholders was $1.7 million, or diluted income per share of $0.06, compared to a net loss of $3.2 million, or diluted loss per share of $0.10, in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Mr. Qizhou Wu, chief executive officer of CAAS, commented, "Our sales continued to mirror the continuing slow economic growth in the Chinese economy in 2019, as well as the trade dispute between the U.S. and China, the introduction of more stringent emission standards, and significantly reduced automobile subsidies. Chinese GDP grew by 6.1% in 2019, the slowest annual rate of economic growth for China since 1990, and car sales weakened in December 2019 compared with the same month a year ago, marking 18 consecutive months of decline. However, Chinese-branded cars, our main market, lost only 2.9% of market share in 2019."

"On the other hand, our sales to our tier-1 North American customers remained stable. In addition, our electric motor subsidiary, Hyoseong (Wuhan) Motion Mechatronics System, successfully completed its phase one development plan for powerpack brushless motors to address significant market opportunities. With three new highly automated production lines installed and tested, the mass production of our proprietary brushless electric motors will start in June 2020. We are also producing EPS systems to steer the new all-electric small vehicle, model ORA R150, for Great Wall Motor. Furthermore, SAIC Maxus, an SUV and commercial vehicle subsidiary of SAIC Motor, also selected us as their type A preferred supplier. For the international markets, we began producing a new steering system for our customer in North America. And our Brazilian operation was nominated as one of three chassis finalists for South America's 2018 Best Supplier by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA)," Mr. Wu concluded.

Mr. Jie Li, chief financial officer of CAAS, commented, "Our operations continued to generate positive cash flow in 2019. We have reduced our operating expenses to become more efficient while the sales of our higher-margin products are expanding."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on China Automotive Systems (CAAS) click here.

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