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Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) recently reported a 2% increase in revenue for Q4 upon adjusting for currency exchange, commodity movements, and acquisitions. The company witnessed significant growth of 10% in Asia, with China alone registering a 12% surge in revenue, and a 6% growth in Europe. These gains, though, were partially counteracted by declines of 7% in North America and 6% in South America, the company’s smallest region.
The adjusted operating income margin for the quarter stood at 12.2% of sales, an improvement from 11.3% reported a year ago. This positive change was attributed to increased global vehicle production, favorable pricing, and the ongoing reduction of supply chain disruption costs. Additionally, depreciation and amortization expense rose to $246 million from $188 million in the previous year, while interest expense for the quarter increased to $71 million from $62 million a year ago. Aptiv (APTV) generated net cash flow from operating activities of $624 million in the quarter, in contrast to $933 million a year ago.
During the quarter, Aptiv (APTV) repurchased 3.8 million shares for approximately $300 million, leaving roughly $1.6 billion available for future share repurchases. For the full year, the company repurchased 4.7 million shares for about $398 million. All repurchased shares were retired.
Guidance: Aptiv’s guidance for the upcoming period includes sales of $21.3 billion to $21.9 billion, falling slightly below the consensus estimate of $21.7 billion, and adjusted EBITDA of $3.2 billion to $3.35 billion, missing the $3.28 billion consensus. The company also projected an adjusted EBITDA margin of 15.0% to 15.3%, adjusted operating income of $2.475 billion to $2.625 billion, and an adjusted operating income margin of 11.6% to 12.0%.
The announcement led to a 0.39% decrease in Aptiv’s (APTV) premarket trading share price, which fell to $86.38.
