Ronald T. Hundzinski
Analyst · Wells Fargo Securities
Thank you, James, and good day, everyone. Before I begin reviewing the financials, I'd like to put BorgWarner's performance into perspective relative to the industry. Global light vehicle production was up 3% in the second quarter compared with the same quarter last year. BorgWarner's reported sales were up 2% from a year ago. As James explained earlier, if we exclude the impact of foreign currencies and M&A activity in 2012, our sales in the quarter were up 3%. To get a clear picture of our performance relative to our markets, we need to review the light vehicle and commercial vehicle markets separately. First, let's take a closer look at the light vehicle market from a regional perspective. In Asia, which we define as China, Korea and Japan, light vehicle production was up 2%. Our light vehicle sales in Asia, excluding currency, were up 10%. In Europe, light vehicle production was up 1%. On-road vehicle sales, excluding currency in 2012 dispositions, were up 1%. In North America, light vehicle production was up 5%, our light vehicle sales growth in North America was up 3%, slightly below the market. Now let's review the commercial vehicle market. Commercial vehicle production was mixed in the quarter. Production was up in Brazil and China but lower in North America and Europe. As a result, our commercial vehicle and aftermarket sales were up about 1% in the quarter. So our typical outperformance of light vehicle market by 8 to 10 percentage points was intact in Asia in the second quarter. In Europe, our customer mix was weighted toward those customers who underperformed the overall market. Also, you may recall that our DCT business in Europe was exceptionally strong a year ago, making it a tough year-over-year comparison. Our performance relative to North American market continues to be a challenge as the adoption of advanced powertrain technology continues to lag other markets. We expect this to improve over time. Now working down the income statement, gross profit, as a percentage of sales, was 20.9% for the quarter. That's up slightly from 20.6% a year ago. The impact of raw material prices in the quarter was minimal. SG&A expenses were 8.2% of sales in the quarter, in line with the second quarter of 2012. R&D spending, which is included in SG&A line, was 3.8% of sales in the second quarter, up 20 basis points from a year ago. This implies a 20-basis-point decline in other SG&A spending, which was attributed to good execution of cost control. Reported operating income in the quarter was $243 million or 12.9% of sales compared with $231 million or 12.5% of sales on a comparable basis a year ago. The 12.9% operating margin is a new quarterly record for the company. After excluding the impact of foreign currency and noncomparable items in the second quarter 2012, our incremental margin was around 30%, which is above our targeted 20%, which is outstanding performance by our operations. As we saw in our strong first half, we are raising our full year operating margin target to approximately 12% from 11.5% or better. As you further -- as we look further down the income statement, equity in affiliate earnings was $11 million in the quarter, down slightly from $13 million last year. This represents the performance of NSK-Warner, our 50-50 joint venture in Japan, which sells transmission components to our Japanese customers in Japan and China, as well as TEL, our turbocharger joint venture in India. Light vehicle production was down in Japan and flat in India for the quarter. Interest expense and finance charges were $9 million in the quarter, down from $13 million a year ago. This was primarily due to some income from the company's cross currency swaps. Provision for income taxes was $67 million in the quarter, which is a 27% effective tax rate, in line with our 2013 guidance. Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests were $6 million in the quarter, up slightly from $5.6 million a year ago. This line represents our minority partner's share in the earnings performance of our Korean and Chinese consolidated joint ventures. Earnings per share. That brings us back here to the earnings -- I'm sorry, earnings per share, which were $174 million in the quarter, or $1.50 per share, up 10% from $1.36 per share a year ago on a comparable basis. Again, outstanding performance for the company. Now let's take a closer look at our operating groups. Engine Group sales were $1.2 billion in the quarter. Excluding currency and 2012 dispositions, Engine Group sales were up 4% compared with the second quarter in 2012. Adjusted EBIT for the Engine Group was $220 million in the quarter or 17.1% of sales. That's 50 basis points higher than the 16.6% reported a year ago and a new quarterly record for the Engine Group as well. Excluding currency in 2012 dispositions, our year-over-year incremental margin was 33%. Excellent performance for the Engine Group. In the Drivetrain Group, sales were $614 million in the quarter. Excluding currency, Drivetrain Group sales were up 2% compared with the second quarter in 2012. Unreported adjusted EBIT was $60 million or 9.7% of sales, up from 9.2% of sales a year ago. The year-over-year incremental margin for the Drivetrain Group, excluding currency, was 47%, which is great performance. The group has been inconsistent, and it is our view that there is room for improvement in Drivetrain in profit levels and in performing consistency. We are focusing our attention on improving the group's performance. Let's move to the balance sheet. Cash flow -- balance sheet and cash flow. We generated $300 million of net cash from operating activities in the first half of 2013, down $10 million from the first half of 2012. Capital spending was $195 million in the quarter, up $7 million from the same period a year ago. Our capital spending this quarter supported our program launches around the world, particularly in Asia, South America, Eastern Europe and Mexico. Free cash flow during the period, which we define as net cash from operating activities less capital spending, was $105 million. Looking at the balance sheet itself, balance sheet net -- balance sheet debt increased by $163 million compared with the end of 2012. Cash increased by $101 million during the same period. This $62 million increase in net debt was primarily due to $150 million of share repurchases in the first half of 2013, less our $105 million of free cash flow. We purchased about 1.9 million shares in the first half of 2013, leaving approximately 6.3 million shares on the current authorization. At the end of the quarter, our net debt-to-capital ratio was 11.3%, which is below our targeted range of 15% to 30%, but up from 10% at the end of 2012. Net debt-to-EBITDA at the end of the second quarter on a trailing 12-month basis was 0.4x. Our capital structure remains in excellent shape. Also, as James mentioned, we have reinstated the dividend. The board has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 a share of common stock payable on August 15, 2013 to shareholders of record of August 5, 2013. At current share price levels, the yield will be between 1% and 1.5%, which is in line with historical levels. The dividend is an important and stable component of our cash deployment strategy, which also includes capital expenditures to fund our organic growth, our core and strategic assets and repurchasing shares. After CapEx and paying a dividend, our priority is in strategic acquisitions. However, in the absence of a deal, repurchasing shares remains an option for us, and we repurchased over 6 million shares in the last 5 quarters. Now I'd like to discuss our guidance for 2013, which has changed from what was provided in April. James reviewed our guidance at a high level, but I'd like to discuss some of the finer points. Our sales growth expectation of 3% to 5%, or 4% to 6% excluding 2012 dispositions, still assumes no currency impact. The net impact of foreign currencies in the first half was small as the weakening Japanese yen and the Brazilian real nearly offset the strength in euro. We will continue to monitor foreign currencies and provide updates as needed. We still expect raw material inflation of $15 million to $20 million in 2013, but now toward the lower end of that range. As we mentioned earlier, our operating income margin is now expected to be approximately 12% in 2013, which is up from the 11.5% or better. In other words, we now expect to improve our margins this year compared with 2012. Productivity gains and spending controls seen in the first half are expected to drive strong results for the remainder of the year. Our expected diluted share count for 2013 has changed. Our previous EPS guidance was based on $117 million diluted shares, which was our share count at the end of 2012. However, due to the first half share repurchase activity, our new full year average diluted share count is expected to be 116 million shares. For those of you monitoring our financials, that's approximately 116.3 million in the first half and approximately 115.5 million shares in the second half. This diluted share count guidance is based on share repurchases made to date. Any additional share repurchases that we may execute during the remainder of the year are not factored into our guidance. Finally, our EPS guidance range is now $5.40 to $5.55 per diluted share, up from $5.15 to $5.45 per diluted share previously. Both the current and previous guidance range exclude noncomparable items, of course. About $0.05 of the guidance raise is due to a lower share count based on share repurchases made to date. The remainder is due to better-than-expected performance from our operations. So we continue to be confident in our ability to execute in any market. This company has demonstrated a heightened focus on efficiency and cost controls since the 2009 recession. This focus resulted in a highly efficient growth and record margins in each of the last 3 years. Weak market conditions, particularly in Europe, will likely result in sales growth below our long term trend in 2013. Despite this, 2013 should be another year of record sales and record profits for BorgWarner. Over the long term, we intend to execute our growth strategy, and over the short term, remained focused on efficiency regardless of the direction of the market. With that, I'd like to turn the call back over to Ken.