Aptiv Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Financial Results

DUBLIN - Aptiv PLC (NYSE: APTV), a global technology company enabling the future of mobility, today reported fourth quarter 2019 U.S. GAAP earnings of $0.90 per diluted share. Excluding special items, fourth quarter earnings totaled $1.15 per diluted share. These results include the adverse impacts in the fourth quarter of approximately $0.28 per diluted share resulting from the General Motors (“GM”) labor strike.

Fourth Quarter Highlights Include:

• U.S. GAAP revenue of $3.6 billion, a decrease of 1%
  • Revenue increased 2% adjusted for currency exchange, commodity movements and divestitures; adversely impacted by approximately $130 million resulting from the GM labor strike
• U.S. GAAP net income of $230 million, diluted earnings per share of $0.90
  • Excluding special items, earnings of $1.15 per diluted share, which includes adverse impacts of approximately $0.28 per diluted share resulting from the GM labor strike
• U.S. GAAP operating income margin of 9.0%
  • Adjusted Operating Income margin of 10.8%; Adjusted Operating Income of $388 million, which includes adverse impacts of approximately $80 million resulting from the GM labor strike
• Generated $703 million of cash from operations
• Returned $86 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends

Full Year 2019 Highlights Include:

• U.S. GAAP revenue of $14.4 billion, a decrease of 1%
  • Revenue increased 4% adjusted for currency exchange, commodity movements and divestitures; adversely impacted by approximately $200 million resulting from the GM labor strike
• U.S. GAAP net income of $990 million, diluted earnings per share of $3.85
  • Excluding special items, earnings of $4.80 per diluted share, which includes adverse impacts of approximately $0.38 per diluted share resulting from the GM labor strike
• U.S. GAAP operating income margin of 8.9%
  • Adjusted Operating Income margin of 10.8%; Adjusted Operating Income of $1,548 million, which includes adverse impacts of approximately $110 million resulting from the GM labor strike
• Generated $1,624 million of cash from operations
• Returned $646 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends

“In 2019, Aptiv continued to build on its track record of industry leadership, innovation and execution, sustaining strong above-market growth and delivering record new business awards totaling over $22 billion, focused on delivering the software capabilities, advanced computing platforms and networking architecture that are making the future of mobility real,” said Kevin Clark, president and chief executive officer. “We enhanced the long-term competitiveness of our business model by continuing to reduce overhead costs and reinvest those savings in the development of advanced technologies. We also continued our track record of value-enhancing and balanced capital deployment, investing in acquisitions and returning approximately $650 million of cash to shareholders. Looking ahead, I am confident our strategically positioned portfolio and relentless focus on execution will continue to drive strong, sustainable performance and superior value creation even in a challenging macro environment, as reflected in our outlook for 2020.”

Fourth Quarter 2019 Results
For the three months ended December 31, 2019, the Company reported U.S. GAAP revenue of $3.6 billion, a decrease of 1% from the prior year period, which includes adverse impacts of approximately $130 million in revenue, primarily in North America, resulting from the GM labor strike. Adjusted for currency exchange, commodity movements and divestitures, revenue increased by 2% in the fourth quarter. This reflects growth of 9% in Asia and 8% in Europe, partially offset by declines of 9% in North America and 7% in South America, our smallest region.

The Company reported fourth quarter 2019 U.S. GAAP net income of $230 million and earnings of $0.90 per diluted share, compared to $247 million and $0.94 per diluted share in the prior year period. Fourth quarter Adjusted Net Income, a non-GAAP financial measure defined below, totaled $296 million, or $1.15 per diluted share, including adverse impacts of approximately $0.28 per diluted share resulting from the GM labor strike, compared to $352 million, or $1.34 per diluted share, in the prior year period.

Fourth quarter Adjusted Operating Income, a non-GAAP financial measure defined below, was $388 million, compared to $430 million in the prior year period. Adjusted Operating Income margin was 10.8%, compared to 11.8% in the prior year period, reflecting an approximately 180 basis point impact resulting from the GM labor strike, partially offset by continued above-market sales growth. Depreciation and amortization expense totaled $178 million, a decrease from $202 million in the prior year period, resulting from decreased non-cash impairment charges and increases related to our acquisitions and capital investments.

Interest expense for the fourth quarter totaled $41 million, as compared to $37 million in the prior year period, which reflects the impacts of our debt refinancing transactions in the first quarter of 2019.

Tax expense in the fourth quarter of 2019 was $30 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of approximately 11%. Tax expense in the fourth quarter of 2018 was $42 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of approximately 14%.

Full Year 2019 Results
For the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company reported U.S. GAAP revenue of $14.4 billion, a decrease of 1% from the prior year, which includes adverse impacts of approximately $200 million in revenue, primarily in North America, resulting from the GM labor strike. Adjusted for currency exchange, commodity movements and divestitures, revenue increased by 4% during the year. This reflects growth of 8% in Europe, 4% in Asia and flat performance in North America, partially offset by a decline of 1% in South America, our smallest region.

For full year 2019, the Company reported U.S. GAAP net income of $990 million and earnings of $3.85 per diluted share, compared to $1,067 million and $4.02 per diluted share in the prior year. Full year 2019 Adjusted Net Income totaled $1,236 million, or $4.80 per diluted share, including adverse impacts of approximately $0.38 per diluted share resulting from the GM labor strike, compared to $1,396 million, or $5.26 per diluted share, in the prior year.

The Company reported Adjusted Operating Income of $1,548 million for full year 2019, compared to $1,751 million in the prior year. Adjusted Operating Income margin was 10.8% for full year 2019, compared to 12.1% in the prior year, reflecting an approximately 60 basis point impact resulting from the GM labor strike, the unfavorable impacts of currency exchange and incremental investments in advanced technologies and engineering, partially offset by continued above-market sales growth. Depreciation and amortization expense totaled $717 million, an increase from $676 million in the prior year, resulting from increases related to our acquisitions and capital investments.

Interest expense for full year 2019 totaled $164 million, as compared to $141 million in the prior year, which reflects the impacts of our debt refinancing transactions in the first quarter of 2019.

Tax expense for full year 2019 was $132 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of approximately 12%. Tax expense for full year 2018 was $250 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of approximately 19%, which includes $29 million, or approximately 2 points, due to the adjustment to the provisional amounts recorded for the one-time impacts of the U.S tax reform enactment and $33 million, or approximately 2 points, due to the one-time impacts of the Company’s organizational entity restructuring resulting from the 2017 spin-off transaction.

The Company generated net cash flow from continuing operating activities of $1,624 million in 2019, compared to $1,640 million in the prior year. As of December 31, 2019, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $0.4 billion and total available liquidity of $2.4 billion.

Reconciliations of Adjusted Revenue Growth, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income Per Share, Adjusted Operating Income and Cash Flow Before Financing, which are non-GAAP measures, to the most directly comparable financial measures, respectively, calculated and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) are provided in the attached supplemental schedules.

Share Repurchase Programs
During 2019, the Company repurchased 5.4 million shares for approximately $420 million, leaving approximately $2.1 billion available for future share repurchases. All repurchased shares were retired.

Q1 and Full Year 2020 Outlook
The Company’s first quarter and full year 2020 financial guidance is as follows:

Conference Call and Webcast
The Company will host a conference call to discuss these results at 8:00 a.m. (ET) today, which is accessible by dialing 877.790.5109 (US domestic) or 647.689.5633 (international) or through a webcast at ir.aptiv.com. The conference ID number is 7689799. A slide presentation will accompany the prepared remarks and has been posted on the investor relations section of the Company’s website. A replay will be available two hours following the conference call.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information
This press release contains information about Aptiv’s financial results which are not presented in accordance with GAAP. Specifically, Adjusted Revenue Growth, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income Per Share and Cash Flow Before Financing are non-GAAP financial measures. Adjusted Revenue Growth represents the year-over-year change in reported net sales relative to the comparable period, excluding the impact on net sales from currency exchange, commodity movements and divestitures. Adjusted Operating Income represents net income before interest expense, other income (expense), net, income tax expense, equity income (loss), net of tax, restructuring, other acquisition and portfolio project costs, asset impairments, gains (losses) on business divestitures and deferred compensation related to acquisitions. Other acquisition and portfolio project costs include costs incurred to integrate acquired businesses and to plan and execute product portfolio transformation actions, including business and product acquisitions and divestitures. Adjusted Operating Income margin is defined as Adjusted Operating Income as a percentage of net sales.

Adjusted Net Income represents net income attributable to Aptiv before restructuring and other special items, including the tax impact thereon. Adjusted Net Income Per Share represents Adjusted Net Income divided by the weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding for the period. Cash Flow Before Financing represents cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations plus cash provided by (used in) investing activities, adjusted for the purchase price of business acquisitions and net proceeds from the divestiture of discontinued operations and other significant businesses.

Management believes the non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release are useful to both management and investors in their analysis of the Company’s financial position, results of operations and liquidity. In particular, management believes Adjusted Revenue Growth, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income Per Share and Cash Flow Before Financing are useful measures in assessing the Company’s ongoing financial performance that, when reconciled to the corresponding GAAP measure, provide improved comparability between periods through the exclusion of certain items that management believes are not indicative of the Company’s core operating performance and that may obscure underlying business results and trends. Management also uses these non-GAAP financial measures for internal planning and forecasting purposes.

Such non-GAAP financial measures are reconciled to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in the attached supplemental schedules at the end of this press release. Non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP and, as calculated, may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. 

About Aptiv
Aptiv is a global technology company that develops safer, greener and more connected solutions enabling the future of mobility. Visit aptiv.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release, as well as other statements made by Aptiv PLC (the “Company”), contain forward-looking statements that reflect, when made, the Company’s current views with respect to current events and financial performance. Such forward-looking statements are subject to many risks, uncertainties and factors relating to the Company’s operations and business environment, which may cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from any future results. All statements that address future operating, financial or business performance or the Company’s strategies or expectations are forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements are discussed under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect the Company. It should be remembered that the price of the ordinary shares and any income from them can go down as well as up. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events and/or otherwise, except as may be required by law.