American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday, hit by a strike at five US plants, and repeated threats to close the factories unless workers accept steep wage cuts.
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“While it would be tragic to dismantle American Axle’s original U.S. manufacturing base, American Axle will be forced to consider additional restructuring and capacity rationalisation actions if the UAW refuses to accept the changes needed to achieve market cost competitiveness at these facilities,” chief executive Dick Dauch said in a statement cited by Reuters, referring to the 3,650 workers on strike since 26 February.
The news agency said American Axle reported a first-quarter loss of US$27m, or 52 cents per share, compared with year-earlier net income of $15.7m, or 30 cents per share.
Excluding a one-time charge, the quarterly loss amounted to 48 cents per share, sharply wider than the 2-cents-per-share loss projected by Reuters Estimates.
JPMorgan analyst Himanshu Patel told the news agency the big miss suggested underlying earnings were still weak in a slumping market for trucks and big SUVs, apart from the impact of the strike.
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By GlobalDataRevenue fell 27% to $587.6m.
Reuters said American Axle estimated that the eight-week-old strike had reduced revenue by $132.6m and operating income by 56 cents per share.
