China Automotive Systems, Inc (CAAS) has reported 17.81 percent fall in profit for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has earned $22.51 million, or $0.70 a share in the year, compared with $27.39 million, or $0.85 a share for the last year. Revenue during the year grew 4.17 percent to $462.05 million from $443.53 million in the previous year. Gross margin for the year contracted 42 basis points over the previous year to 17.51 percent. Total expenses were 95.02 percent of annual revenues, up from 93.31 percent for the last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 170 basis points in operating margin to 4.98 percent.
Operating income for the year was $23.02 million, compared with $29.65 million in the previous year.
Mr. Qizhou Wu, chief executive officer of CAAS, commented, "After regaining growth in the third quarter, we are encouraged by the acceleration of top line growth as nearly all subsidiaries of CAAS received increased orders from OEM customers during the fourth quarter. Many of our top 10 OEM customers such as Great Wall, Geely, and Chang’an posted robust growth in 2016. In addition, our product mix change continues to drive our growth and Electric Power Steering (EPS) sales grew nearly 45%, accounting for 28% of our total revenue in 2016. Entering 2017, we believe that the auto replacement cycle with new models coming into the market and ongoing tax incentives for fuel-efficient vehicles will help continue to propel the growth of auto sales in China. As the largest steering system provider in China, we are well positioned to ride the growth and create shareholder value.”
China Automotive Systems forecasts revenue to be $485 million for fiscal year 2017.
Operating cash flow drops significantly
China Automotive Systems, Inc has generated cash of $11.82 million from operating activities during the year, down 69.89 percent or $27.45 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $52.23 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $32.27 million in the last year.
Cash flow from financing activities was $4.42 million for the year as against cash outgo of $1.78 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $31.09 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, down 55.38 percent or $38.58 million from $69.68 million on Dec. 31, 2015.
Working capital declines
China Automotive Systems, Inc has witnessed a decline in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $161.04 million as at Dec. 31, 2016, down 9.45 percent or $16.80 million from $177.85 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Current ratio was at 1.50 as on Dec. 31, 2016, down from 1.60 on Dec. 31, 2015.
Days sales outstanding went up to 218 days for the year compared with 213 days for the same period last year.
Days inventory outstanding has decreased to 33 days for the year compared with 67 days for the previous year period.
Debt moves up marginally
China Automotive Systems, Inc has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $41.43 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 1.22 percent or $0.50 million from $40.93 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Long-term debt stood at $0.61 million as on Dec. 31, 2016. Total debt was 6.56 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2016, compared with 6.74 percent on Dec. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was almost stable at 0.14 as on Dec. 31, 2016, when compared with the last year. Interest coverage ratio improved to 35.09 for the year from 22.18 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
