Cooper-Standard finishes Q1 with $94 million of available liquidity

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Portland, Ore., May 19 - Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc. ended the first quarter with available liquidity of $94 million, the majority of which was cash borrowed under the company's credit facility in prior quarters to ensure access to the funds, Allen Campbell, chief financial officer of Cooper-Standard, said Tuesday during the company's quarterly earnings call.

At quarter end, Cooper-Standard has $88.3 million of cash and $5.9 million of committed availability on its $115 million credit facility.

Discretionary free cash flow during the period was negative $40.6 million versus negative $3.5 million for the same quarter last year. The change was driven by lower volumes and related EBITDA, which were somewhat offset by cash tax refunds and lower capital expenditures, Campbell said.

Cooper-Standard reported adjusted EBITDA of $15.5 million for the first quarter, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $83.1 million in the same period of 2008. First-quarter net sales were $401.8 million, down from $756.0 million in the comparable prior-year period.

"The first quarter of 2009 was extremely difficult, and the second quarter is bringing a new set of challenges with broad customer shut downs aimed at reducing inventories," James McElya, chief executive officer of Cooper-Standard, said during the call.

In response, the company is taking actions to reduce costs and capacity while tightly managing working capital, he said.

On a more positive note, the challenging environment is triggering a faster pace of consolidation among suppliers, which is creating new business opportunities, McElya said, adding that the company recently received $95.6 million of new business wins.

When asked for thoughts on how the company might look to delever, McElya said he was keeping all options on the table but not willing to discuss specific strategies.

The company's debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 5.0 times at March 31.

Cooper-Standard is a Novi, Mich., manufacturer and marketer of systems and components for the global automotive industry.

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