Earnings Labs

China Automotive Systems, Inc. (CAAS)

Q4 2014 Earnings Call· Thu, Mar 26, 2015

$4.43

-1.99%

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Same-Day

+1.70%

1 Week

+3.41%

1 Month

+5.97%

vs S&P

+2.96%

Transcript

Operator

Operator

Greetings and welcome to the China Automotive Systems Fourth Quarter 2014 Conference Call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I’d now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Kevin Theiss. Thank you. Mr. Theiss, you may now begin.

Kevin Theiss

Analyst

Thank you for joining us today and welcome to China Automotive Systems 2014 fourth quarter and fiscal year conference call. My name is Kevin Theiss, and I’m with Grayling, China Automotive’s U.S. Investor Relations Advisor. Joining us today are Mr. Hanlin Chen, Chairman; Mr. Qi Zhou Wu, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jie Li, Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Daming Hu, Chief Accounting Officer of China Automotive Systems. They will be available to answer questions later in the conference call. And we will help with translation. Before we begin, I’ll remind all listeners that throughout this call, we may make statements that may contain forward looking statements. Forward looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this call. As a result, the Company’s actual results could differ materially from those contained in these forward looking statements due to a number of factors including those described under the heading Risk Factors in the Company’s Form 10-K Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2014 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 26, 2015, respectively; and then documents filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company expressly disclaims any duty to provide updates to any forward looking statements made in this call whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. I’ll provide a brief overview and summary of the 2014 fourth quarter and fiscal year results. And then I’ll turn to management to conduct the question-and-answer session. The 2014 fourth quarter results are unaudited numbers or the fiscal year results are audited, both period results are reported under U.S. GAAP. For our call today, I’ll review the financial results in U.S. dollars. First, let’s review the industry standards and our market position for the…

Operator

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Thank you. Our first question is from the line of Cormac Glynn with Wall Street Wonders. Please go ahead with your question.

Cormac Glynn

Analyst

Good morning. How many unit sales for electric power steering do you need to achieve economy scale and increase gross margin?

Qi Zhou Wu

Analyst

To reach the economy scale we need to produce and sell between 800,000 or above 1 million. Yes, 800,000 units to 1 million. In 2015 our projection is to sell 700,000 to 800,000 units. So we expect margin will be increased -- improved in 2015. That’s for the electric power steering.

Cormac Glynn

Analyst

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of Robert Polich, a Private Investor. Please proceed with your questions.

Robert Polich

Analyst

Thanks for taking my call. You know I was just wondering, is there any plans to do, the share price has been really low and I’m kind of surprised that there is, in expenses as it is and I was just wondering would there be any plan to possibly buyback some shares and is there any possibility, I know we had a -- it was sort of a dividend last year, I guess it was a return of capital. Do you think that would be repeated? Those are my questions. Thank you.

Qi Zhou Wu

Analyst

So the share buyback as well as the dividend will be discussed in our board meeting in the middle of the year. So we’ll make announcement if there is a decision.

Robert Polich

Analyst

Okay. Thank you very much.

Qi Zhou Wu

Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Bernard Lirola with Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

Bernard Lirola

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

Yes, and by the way congratulations on the great quarter. I just wanted to get more visibility on growth expectations in Latin America with regard to, ultimate volume produced in about three years in terms of understanding the capacity you’re putting out there. And my second question is, I think you commented that South America would be used for global markets. So I’m trying to understand if you intent to ship to the U.S. for example from that facility or not?

Qi Zhou Wu

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

Three year plan is -- at the end of three year we want to reach 350,000 units and these are mainly for, all for Brazil and Argentina market, 350,000 annual unit volume, for the next three years, that’s the goal. And in North America, it’s not going to be shipped out of our South America facility. It’s still going to be shipped out of China.

Bernard Lirola

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

If I could ask a follow-up question.

Qi Zhou Wu

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

Sure.

Bernard Lirola

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

Can you give us any sense for your views on the African market long-term or mid-term?

Qi Zhou Wu

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

For Africa, as you know the OEM market in Africa is very small. It’s not promising for us either. However in there they do have a decent aftermarket in which we can play in that market.

Bernard Lirola

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

On the Chinese facility?

Qi Zhou Wu

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

Yes, we’ll be shipping out of China facility and the general term is, if the market demand reaches certain thresholds we’ll start to built facility there, produce locally and ship locally. Anywhere below that threshold we’ll have to ship out of China for the economy of scale.

Bernard Lirola

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

So obviously you’re producing some net cash and you’ve completed some consolidation, you did mention that you were reviewing alternative use of the cash and if you’re completing the South American build up as well as have no African plans and no real Chinese, I might to conclude that the use of cash beside the dividend or a stock buyback would be to make an acquisition of another supplier to the OEM market?

Jie Li

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

Yes, to answer your question, we’re looking at two areas, as you know we are having quite a decent cash spending right now, cash position right now, its continued to grow in the coming year. And in terms of the cash and how we use it, one is we’re going to continue to expand our capacity for [indiscernible] that satisfy or to make the global market demand such as North America and our North America shipment has been increasing every year. So we need [ph] to continue to expand capacity to meet that demand, that including Ford as well as Chrysler. And the second area we’re looking at is, yes, its some acquisition target, we’re looking at high quality companies with high -- we’re looking for acquisition target as a high quality customer base as well as cutting edge technologies. So we’re looking to bring out these companies into our coverage.

Bernard Lirola

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

Thank you so much.

Jie Li

Analyst · Needham. Please proceed with your questions.

Thank you. End of Q&A

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Again we have no additional questions. Do you like to make some closing remarks?

Kevin Theiss

Analyst

Thank you all for participating in our 2014 earnings conference call. We look forward to speaking with you again, and we wish you all a good day.