Cooper-Standard posts Euro 90 million loss

ERJ staff report (DS)

Novi, Michigan - Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc.-parent of automotive parts supplier Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc.-posted a net loss of $121.5 million (Euro 90.3 million) in 2008, compared to a loss of $151 million a year earlier, the company announced 2 April.

The Novi-based firm reported sales of $2.59 billion, up 3.4 percent from 2007, but the increase resulted primarily from the full-year impact of 2007 acquisitions, including European businesses of Metzeler Automotive Profile Systems.

In the fourth quarter, Cooper-Standard posted a net loss of $116.1 million, compared to a loss of $152.6 million a year earlier. Sales for the quarter fell 33.2 percent to $$473.3 million.

The company's fourth-quarter and full-year results reflected the “significant and rapid decline in worldwide auto production,” said Jim McElya, executive chairman and ceo of Cooper-Standard Automotive. McElya was renamed CEO late last month after leaving the post in mid-2008 as part of a company-wide reorganisation.

The restructuring includes the elimination of 20 percent of the company's salaried work force, or about 650 people. The company also realigned its operating divisions to geography-based units: North America and International. Previously the divisions were Body & Chassis and Fluid Systems product-based segments.

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Staff report from Rubber & Plastics News