SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Lear Corp. said it has successfully emerged from its court-supervised financial reorganization with a strong and flexible balance sheet, positive operating results in the third quarter, a growing sales backlog and a robust competitive profile.
The company also announced that its new common stock is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange under its historical NYSE stock symbol "LEA" and began trading on a "when issued" basis (LEA WI) yesterday. Lear said it expects its common shares to begin "regular way" trading within several days.
"We have moved through the financial restructuring process without missing a beat operationally. We have continued to win new business globally, strengthened our industry-leading global capabilities and the spirit of the Lear team has never been more positive," said Bob Rossiter, Lear’s chairman, chief executive officer and president. "Our customer relationships remain the best in the industry, allowing us to continue winning new business in every region of the world."
Lear said its present net sales backlog totals $1.4 billion for 2010 to 2012, which is approximately 25 percent higher than the prior status, despite lower industry production levels. The new backlog also represents continued diversification of Lear’s sales, with 40 percent in its Seating business and 60 percent in its growing Electrical and Electronic business. Additionally, more than half of Lear’s new business comes from outside North America, the company said.
As a result of the financial reorganization, Lear has reduced its debt obligations by approximately $2.8 billion and emerged with a strong and flexible balance sheet. With more than $1 billion in cash, Lear has available liquidity to support its global operating needs and growth plans. Upon exit, Lear has less than $1 billion of debt at competitive interest rates and no near-term maturities.
"Moving forward, we are committed to maintaining a disciplined financial profile and an investment grade focus that will enable us to continue investing in new products and technologies globally, as well as growth in emerging markets," Rossiter said.
"As a result of our multi-year business transformation, we have streamlined our global cost footprint and improved our operating efficiency in every region of the world. Going forward, we have a focused overall plan to drive further sales growth and improved margins."
Rossiter concluded, "Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our employees, we moved through our financial restructuring expeditiously and without compromising the fundamentals that make Lear a global industry leader – our unrelenting focus on quality, our unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction and the most talented team in the business. When you add to that our strong balance sheet, competitive cost structure and focused growth strategy, we are ideally positioned to continue our business momentum and to benefit from an industry recovery."
