Magna surges as Q4 profit beats dividend raised ahead of share split
Date
2/25/2015 3:41:50 PM
(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) () surged in Toronto trading as North America’s largest auto-parts supplier reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and raised its dividend.
Shares jumped 7.3 percent to C$137.04 at 1:55 p.m. in Toronto after reaching a 52-week high of $137.63. The stock has rallied 43 percent over the past year.
Net income rose 11 percent to $509 million or $2.44 per share in the October-to-December quarter the Aurora Ontario-based company said in a statement today.
Earnings excluding some items were $2.52 a share.
Sales rose about 2 percent to $9.39 billion.
Analysts had expected a profit of $2.25 per share and revenue of $9.08 billion according to Capital IQ data.
Demand for cars picked up in Europe last year after a six-year slump boosted by incentive schemes from governments and carmakers. However demand remains much below the levels seen before the eurozone crisis as countries in the region struggle to kickstart growth.
“While the recent strengthening of the U.S. dollar has impacted our reported results we remain optimistic about Magna’s future and continue to invest heavily in capital and innovation to support our future growth in North America Europe and Asia” chief executive officer Don Walker said in the statement.
The quarterly dividend was lifted 16 percent to $0.44 per share. Magna also said it will split the stock 2-for-1 payable on March 25 for shareholders as of March 11.
However Magna warned that the stronger U.S. dollar will hurt results this year. It lowered its 2015 revenue forecast to $33.1 billion to $34.8 billion from a January outlook of $34.4 billion to $36.1 billion. The average estimate was $36 billion.
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