American Axle posts $213M net loss in Q2; Denso losses approach $1B

American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings posted a net loss of $213.2 million in the second quarter, compared with a gain of $52.5 million a year earlier, as the supplier experienced global production shutdowns in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The supplier said revenue for the quarter plummeted nearly 70 percent to $515.3 million from $1.7 billion. Second-quarter sales include $171 million from the company's U.S. iron casting operations sold in December.

American Axle joined several other suppliers this week that reported plunges in second-quarter net income and revenue. More companies are set to report results next week.

About $947 million of sales were "negatively impacted" by the pandemic, American Axle said.

Shares of the Detroit supplier fell 0.4 percent to close Friday at $7.06 on Wall Street.

Second-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and other adjustments fell to negative $52.1 million compared with $266 million a year earlier.

"While this was an unprecedented quarter for the global economy, the industry and AAM, we took this as an opportunity to adjust our operations, structurally reduce our costs and strengthen our financial profile," American Axle CEO David Dauch said in a Friday call with analysts.

"With the stabilization of our China operations and a ramp-up of our European and North American operations, we are optimistic about our ability to generate operating profits and positive free cash flow in this new market environment."

Dauch also said that American Axle launched its first eDrive Program in China at Lizhou AAM Automotive Driveline System Co. for the Baojun E300 Plus program. The supplier also said it issued $400 million of unsecured senior notes at "a favorable interest rate" in the second quarter.

The supplier said it will continue to refrain from issuing financial guidance since withdrawing it March 25 because of the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.

American Axle ranks No. 41 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers, with worldwide parts sales to automakers of $6.53 billion in 2019.

In Japan, Toyota-affiliated supplier Denso Corp. said it swung to a net loss of ¥90.1 billion ($836 million) compared with a gain of $530 million the year before in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30.

Revenue dropped 42 percent to $7.1 billion because of the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on sales, the company said Friday.

Operating profit swung to a loss of nearly $990 million because of a decrease in production volume, the supplier said.

Asia fared the best out of Denso's operating regions, with revenue decreasing nearly 31 percent to $2.1 billion and operating income falling to $32.7 million. China's early bounce back in operation and a year-on-year increase in revenue helped secure operating income, Denso said.

In North America, revenue fell 61 percent to $1.1 billion, and operating income swung to a loss of $244.3 million.

In Europe, revenue fell almost 58 percent to $623.5 million, and operating income swung to a loss of $76.6 million.

In other areas, revenue plunged 84 percent to $27.3 million, and operating income fell 68 percent to $12.2 million.

Denso Corp., of Kariya, Japan., ranks No. 2 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers, with worldwide parts sales to automakers of an estimated $41.81 billion in its 2019 fiscal year.