17th Mar 2020 09:45
(Alliance News) - TI Fluid Systems PLC on Tuesday reported a drop in annual profit and warned of the challenges facing the automotive market amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Oxford-based TI Fluid Systems, which makes fluid systems for light vehicles, recorded pretax profit of EUR201.7 million in 2019, down 7.1% from the EUR217.1 million seen in 2018.
Revenue was down 1.8% year on year in 2019 at EUR3.41 billion compared to EUR3.47 billion.
At constant currency, revenue was down 3.5% year on year, but TI Fluid noted this outperformed global light vehicle production volumes by 2.1%.
TI Fluid declared a final dividend of 5.94 euro cents per share, giving the company a total dividend for 2019 of 8.96 cents - flat on the year before.
The company targets a 30% payout of adjusted net income, which slipped in 2019, so TI Fluid upped the payout ratio to 31% to match 2018's dividend.
President & Chief Executive William Kozyra said: "2019 represents steady progress in our organic growth strategy for fluid systems with the award of a high volume HEV fuel tank programme in North America. We also continue to invest in the business with our new thermal products facility in Morocco to primarily supply BEVs.
"The group was successful in being awarded additional smaller regional EV programmes along with new collaboration projects with key customers, including in China, to reduce weight, and maximise power efficiency in the vehicle through thermal products and systems. We remain well positioned as a leading partner for our customer's thermal BEV needs. The group remains well positioned for the automotive megatrends of reduced emissions and electrification."
Looking ahead, Kozyra said the global automotive market "remains challenging", due to the uncertainty around the spread of the deadly Covid-19.
"We remain confident in our strategy, business model, operating flexibility and strength in our ability to generate positive free cash flow," he added.
TI Fluid's adjusted free cash flow at December 31 was EUR171.5 million.
Shares in TI Fluid Systems were down 4.0% in London on Tuesday at 124.80 pence each.
By Paul McGowan; [email protected]
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