Magna’s revenue soars in Q2 2010

Auto parts maker Magna International reported much stronger than expected quarterly results on August 7, with sales up about two-thirds as the result of a pickup in the global auto market.

Aurora, Ont.-based Magna lost $500-million in 2009, and shed 10,000 jobs since the downturn began. But the company’s second-quarter earnings exceeded expectations on the back of a 75 per cent increase in North American light-vehicle production compared with a year ago.

In a press release, the company said it earned US$293 million in the second quarter. That compared with a loss of US$205 million in the year earlier period, when the auto sector was in turmoil and Chrysler and General Motors Co. were operating under bankruptcy protection.

“Beyond the improved level of light vehicle production in North America and western europe, which drove our higher sales, our strong second quarter results reflect among other things the benefit of our efforts over the past few years to restructure, right-size and otherwise reduce costs across the organization and the benefit of our efforts to improve underperforming operations around the world,” co-CEO Don Walker told the media in a conference call.