Dana has announced financial results for the first quarter of 2023.

“Dana achieved strong sales of $2.64 billion in the first quarter, with significantly improved profit margin over the previous year, driven by healthy customer demand in all our end markets, as well as new and replacement business rolling-on,” said James Kamsickas, Dana chairman and CEO.

“Operationally, we executed very well in the quarter, overcoming the pervasive challenges that continue to impact the mobility industry, including inflationary pressures, customer-demand volatility, supply-chain disruptions, and currency fluctuations. Our team has done an outstanding job remaining focused on our enterprise-wide transformation to a frontrunning e-Propulsion mobility supplier. We are capitalizing on the strength of our sales backlog and launching a record number of new programs for both traditional and electric-vehicle solutions, positioning us well for the future,” Kamsickas added.

First-quarter 2023 Financial Results
Sales for the first quarter of 2023 totaled $2.64 billion, compared with $2.48 billion in the same period of 2022, representing a $164 million increase driven by improved demand, cost-recovery actions, and conversion of the sales backlog, partially offset by the translation of foreign currencies.

Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2023 was $204 million, compared with $170 million for the same period in 2022. The 80 basis points of margin improvement in the first quarter of 2023 was primarily driven by higher sales volume, net customer pricing and recovery actions, and lower periodic spending on development for electric-vehicle products. It was partially offset by production inefficiencies driven by volatile customer demand schedules and negative exchange-rate impacts.

The net income attributable to Dana was $28 million, or $0.19 per share, compared with net income of $17 million, or $0.12 per share, in the first quarter of 2022.

Adjusted net income attributable to Dana was $36 million, and diluted adjusted earnings per share were $0.25 for the first quarter of 2023, compared with adjusted net income of $23 million and $0.16 per share in 2022.

Operating cash flow in the first quarter of 2023 was a use of $170 million, compared with a use of $121 million in the same period of 2022. Free cash flow was use of $290 million, compared with a use of $237 million in the first quarter of 2022. The increased use was due to higher working capital requirements primarily driven by increased inventory to support program launches and higher demand in heavy-vehicle markets.

“Dana is off to a good start to the year, which gives us added confidence in our full-year guidance,” said Timothy Kraus, Dana senior vice president and chief financial officer. “As we progress through the year, we now expect a mostly steady improving trajectory as our program launch cadence ramps up. We remain focused on offsetting key external cost drivers such as customer production volatility, inflation, currency fluctuations, and commodity prices.”

Dana’s 2023 Financial Targets Remain Unchanged:

• Sales of $10.35 to $10.85 billion;
• Adjusted EBITDA of $750 to $850 million, an implied adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 7.5 percent at the midpoint of the range;
• Diluted adjusted EPS of $0.25 to $0.75;
• Operating cash flow of approximately, $510 to $560 million; and
• Free cash flow of breakeven to $50 million