American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. reported a $49 million net profit for the fourth quarter of 2009 compared with a $112 million loss in the year-earlier period, as sales last year increased 13% to $464 million.
Results in the latest quarter reflect the effect of a $49 million tax refund vs. a $70 million tax expense a year earlier. AAM also recorded one-time charges of $18 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.
For the full year, the company narrowed its net loss to $253 million from $1.2 billion in 2008. Last year’s one-time charges of $169 million were one-sixth of those the year before.
Sales fell to $1.5 billion from $2.1 billion in 2008 as SUV sales tumbled and AAM’s main customers, General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, idled plants in North America for weeks at a time. AAM estimates those shutdowns cost it nearly $400 million in lost sales. Content per vehicle inched up less than 1% to $1,403.
AAM ended 2009 with $481 million of liquidity, up $110 million from Sept. 30 but $20 million less than at the end of 2008.
The company hiked its 2010 sales outlook to $1.9 billion-$2.1 billion and predicted it will be profitable this year.