Linamar Corp. reported a second-quarter loss of $48.4 million Thursday with sales dropping nearly 40 per cent as major North American automakers went bankrupt or struggled to stay afloat.
3-month TSX chart for Linamar The loss amounted to 75 cents per share and compared with a profit of $32 million, or 48 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.
Sales fell to $378 million from $625.4 million last year.
The auto parts maker, based in Guelph, Ont., has more than 9,000 employees in 37 factories, five R&D centres and 11 sales offices spread over nine countries.
Linamar said it incurred unusual charges of $38.3 million after tax, including capital asset impairments linked to the General Motors and Chrysler bankruptcies, severance costs and facility amalgamation costs.
It said it generated $88.4 million in operational cash flow, $61.7 million of which was from reductions in working capital.
Linamar said it was awarded a contract during the quarter by an unnamed major European automaker that will exceed $200 million in annualized volume at full production.
"Despite the toll that excessive production shutdowns took on our sales and earnings this quarter, we are very pleased by the excellent level of cash generated, indicative of our ability to aggressively reallocate capital from existing lines to new programs and continue to grow despite low cash investment," CEO Linda Hasenfratz said in a release.
"We also had a fantastic quarter in terms of new business. both takeover and longer-term, lining us up for continued growth in the coming months and year," she said.
Shares of Linamar gained 49 cents to $13.09 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.