Superior Industries Warns of Profit Drop

Van Nuys wheel maker Superior Industries International Inc. said Friday that declining orders might cut second-quarter earnings to as little as 15 cents a share, which would be its lowest quarterly profit since 1991.

The company’s shares fell nearly 2% on the news.

Superior, the world’s No. 2 automotive wheel maker in terms of annual revenue, said profit in the period ended June 30 was expected to be 15 cents to 17 cents a share.

The low end of that range would be a 71% drop from net income a year earlier of $13.6 million, or 51 cents.

Superior gets most of its revenue from General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., which reduced North American production in the first half and plan more cuts in the third quarter because of declining U.S. sales.

GM and Ford accounted for 74% of Superior’s first-quarter revenue and 79% in all of 2004.

“There’s a lot of stops and starts at our seven factories because of very volatile customer orders,” said Jeffrey Ornstein, Superior’s chief financial officer. “It’s been a tough time for auto suppliers.”

Superior was expected to earn 22 cents a share, the average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

The company’s shares fell 40 cents to $23.06. They have declined 21% this year.

Superior reported a first-quarter profit of $8.93 million, or 34 cents a share. When those results were issued, Ornstein said that second-quarter profit would be “significantly below” that figure but he didn’t give a specific estimate.

At Superior’s May 13 annual shareholders meeting, Chief Executive Steven Borick announced a 3.2% increase, to 16 cents a share, in the company’s quarterly dividend.

Borick said in the statement Friday that “we continue to win substantial new and replacement wheel programs. We also are pushing ahead with our cost reduction and automation initiatives, which will serve us in good stead in the future.”

Hayes Lemmerz International Inc. of Northville, Mich., is the largest maker of auto wheels.