From Detroit Free Press
Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc., a privately held Novi, MI-based auto supplier of body sealing and fluid handling systems, reported Wednesday that losses increased because of restructuring and acquisition costs.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, Cooper-Standard lost $27 million, compared with a $1.1 million loss in the same period a year earlier. Third quarter sales were $505.5 million, up 18 percent from $426.7 million in third quarter 2005.
Cooper-Standard in September closed on the $205,000 purchase of the automotive fluid handling systems business of Auburn Hills, MI-based ITT Industries Inc. To prevent redundant positions from the acquisition, Cooper-Standard’s restructuring plan calls for eliminating 700 jobs, and 546 of those jobs were eliminated in the third quarter.
In the quarter, the company had a $9 million restructuring charge. A year earlier, restructuring charges totaled only $554,000.
Cooper-Standard’s gross profit without those one-time charges was $62.5 million, up 7 percent from $58.3 million during the same period a year earlier.
"The domestic auto industry is undergoing significant restructuring. Abrupt North American OEM production cuts impacted our business, and we will face more challenges in the future," Chairman and CEO Jim McElya said in a statement. "Nevertheless, we are confident in our ability to manage through these challenges, and our people will continue to focus on winning new business and on lowering our costs."
McElya became chairman last week of the Original Equipment Supplier Association, a parts-making trade group.
Cooper-Standard is a privately held portfolio company of The Cypress Group and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners Funds.
The Cypress Group is a private equity investment firm managing more than $3.5 billion of capital.
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