Magna reports improved earnings in Q4 2012, increases sales outlook

Magna International has reported improved earnings and raised its outlook for North American vehicle production and sales for the year.

The Aurora, Ont.-based autoparts giant’s fourth-quarter 2012 earnings rose almost 13%, well ahead of expectations.

The company also bumped up its sales guidance for 2013 by about $700 million, fueled by a stronger outlook for light vehicle production in North America as a result of stronger North American auto sales. The bolstered outlook comes a little more than a month after Magna issued its initial projections for the year.

Magna said it earned $351 million in its latest quarter, up from $312 million a year earlier. Sales climbed to $8.03 billion from $7.25 billion.

The company said North American light vehicle production increased 18% to 15.5 million units in 2012, while Western European light vehicle production fell 7% to 12.7 million units. For 2013, Magna is projecting North American light vehicle production to rise to 15.8 million units and puts Western European production at 11.9 million units.

“Overall, we are satisfied with our operating results for 2012,” said Magna’s CEO Don Walker. “We continued our strong performance inNorth America. In Europe, we saw better operating results and a return to profitability. In the rest of the world,Asiaremains profitable, despite the significant new facility activity, and we are taking steps to improve results inSouth America.”

Magna has more than 300 factories and 88 product development, engineering and sales centres around the world and more than 100,000 employees.