Stoneridge Inc. Reports Operating Results (10-Q)

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May 10, 2010
Stoneridge Inc. (SRI, Financial) filed Quarterly Report for the period ended 2010-03-31.

Stoneridge Inc. has a market cap of $216.06 million; its shares were traded at around $8.32 with and P/S ratio of 0.45. SRI is in the portfolios of Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies LLC.

Highlight of Business Operations:

We recognized net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 of $1.5 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, compared with net loss of $11.6 million, or $(0.49) per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2009. The increase in our profitability was primarily due to the improvement of the markets that we serve, which resulted in increased sales volume in the current quarter.

Our first quarter 2010 results were positively affected by improvements in the North American automotive and global commercial vehicle markets as well as the economy as a whole. Production volumes in the North American automotive vehicle market increased by 69.5% during the quarter ended March 31, 2010 when compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2009. These automotive market production volume increases had a positive effect on our North American automotive market net sales of approximately $15.1 million, primarily within our Control Devices segment. The commercial vehicle market production volumes in North America improved by 17.3% during the quarter ended March 31, 2010 when compared to the prior year first quarter, which resulted in increased net sales of approximately $4.2 million, primarily within our Electronics segment. Our net sales to European commercial vehicle customers were also favorably affected by volume increases during the quarter ended March 31, 2010 as compared to the prior year first quarter of approximately $2.1 million, also primarily within the Electronics segment. In addition, our results were affected by foreign currency exchange rates. Our revenues were favorably affected by foreign currency translation of approximately $3.3 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2010 when compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2009. Our gross margin percentage increased from 15.9% for the quarter ended March 31, 2009 to 22.6% for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, primarily due to the significant increases in sales activity and benefits from our prior restructuring initiatives.

Our selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) increased from $27.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2009 to $29.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. This $2.4 million or 8.9% increase in SG&A, was due to increased compensation and compensation related expenses incurred during the quarter ended March 31, 2010 of approximately $2.6 million primarily as a result of increased incentive compensation expenses. In addition, our design and development costs increased by approximately $0.6 million between periods due to new product launches by our customers.

At March 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, we maintained a cash and equivalents balance of $80.0 million and $91.9 million, respectively. Our cash and equivalents balance declined during the current quarter as a result of increased working capital requirements. As discussed in Note 6 to the condensed consolidated financial statements, we have no borrowings under our asset-based credit facility. At March 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, we had borrowing capacity of $68.0 million and $54.1 million, respectively.

Our Electronics segment was positively affected by increased volume in our served markets by approximately $4.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 when compared to the prior year first quarter. The increase in net sales for our Electronics segment was primarily due to volume increases in our North American and European commercial vehicle products. Commercial vehicle market production volumes in North America increased by 17.3%, during the quarter ended March 31, 2010 when compared to the prior year first quarter. The increase in North American commercial vehicle production positively affected net sales in our Electronics segment for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 by approximately $4.0 million or 11.0%. Our net sales were also favorably affected by approximately $1.9 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2010 due to the inclusion of Bolton Conductive Systems, LLC (“BCS”), which was acquired in the fourth quarter of 2009. Our net sales to European commercial vehicle customers increased by approximately $2.0 million or 11.6% during the quarter ended March 31, 2010 as compared to the prior year first quarter. The balance of the change was primarily related to volume declines in the agricultural vehicle markets of approximately $1.0 million. In addition, our Electronics segment net sales were favorably affected by foreign currency fluctuations of approximately $3.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 when compared to the prior year first quarter.

The increase in North American net sales was primarily attributable to increased sales volume in our North American automotive and commercial vehicle markets. These increased volume levels had a positive effect on our net sales for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 of $15.1 million, and $4.2 million for our North American automotive and commercial vehicle markets, respectively. North American net sales for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 were favorably affected by approximately $1.9 million due to the inclusion of BCS. Our increase in net sales outside North America was primarily due to increased sales of European commercial vehicle market products, which had a positive effect on our net sales for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 of approximately $2.1 million. In addition, our first quarter 2010 net sales outside of North America were positively affected by foreign currency fluctuations of approximately $3.3 million.

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