Adient significantly reduces loss in Q1 2019

Plymouth, Michigan — First-quarter 2019 sales at automotive seat maker Adient were down 1.1% on 2018 at $4.16 bn, and EBITDA fell  46.5%, according to an SEC filing. However, the company significantly reduced its Q1 loss.

The company's automotive seating sector had sales of $3.7bn in the quarter. That number is down 1.5% on the 2017 quarter. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA in the segment was down by 26.5% at $261m.

The company laid the blame firmly at the doors of 'business performance issues in seating', lower volumes in Europe and China. Adient also faced falling selling prices in its seating business.

The North American business performed better than in 2017 but, overall, the company made a $17m loss in the quarter. This compares to a $261m loss in the 2017 first quarter. Changes in US tax law helped.

The company believes the automotive sector will be tough in 2019 if the final quarter of 2018 is a guide.

Global automotive production in the last three months of 2018 was down 2.2% at 24.1m units, said the company, quoting IHS Consultants. In North America, there was 2.4% growth to 2.4m units in the period; China shrank by 10.7% to 7.5m units; Europe fell by 3.4% to 5.7m units; and Asia grew 5.5% to 5.8m units.

Despite this, Doug Del Grosso, Adient's CEO, said 'There are no structural reasons why Adient's margins should not be comparable to its peers. We are taking action to improve our financial performance.'

Del Grosso expects to see improvements in the second half of 2019.