LAKE FOREST, Ill. – UCI Holdings Limited has announced UCI’s results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015. The company reported net sales of $245.5 million compared to $251.6 million for the first quarter of 2014. UCI reported that net sales increased in its filtration and cooling systems product lines, and declined in the vehicle electronics product line. Fuel delivery system product line net sales were unchanged.
Net loss for the first quarter of 2015 was $12.3 million, including $1.7 million, net of tax, in special items, consisting primarily of costs of the company’s strategic review, new business changeover and sales commitment costs, business optimization costs, restructuring costs and other litigation costs. Excluding these items, adjusted net loss would have been $10.6 million for the quarter. Net loss for the first quarter of 2014 was $12.5 million, including $3.9 million, net of tax, in special items, consisting primarily of restructuring costs, new business changeover and sales commitment costs, and business optimization costs.
Separately, UCI Holdings announced on May 8 that it entered into an agreement to sell its Wells vehicle electronics business to NGK Spark Plug Co. Ltd. for an aggregate amount of approximately $257 million, subject to certain adjustments based on closing date cash, indebtedness and working capital. The transaction is expected to close early in the third quarter of 2015, pending final regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
“As we noted in our release two weeks ago, our net sales were lower this quarter than the prior year quarter, primarily due to lower volume in our vehicle electronics business, offset by sales from new filtration wins,” said Bruce Zorich, CEO of UCI. “The new filtration wins, coming on the heels of our restructuring efforts in the business, carried higher costs due to manufacturing inefficiencies, negatively impacting Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter. The lower volume in our vehicle electronics business, as well as unfavorable mix, also affected our bottom line results.”
As of March 31, 2015, the company’s cash on hand was $33.6 million and total debt was $717.5 million.
