Cooper Standard hit by chip shortage, higher materials costs

Northville, Michigan – An ongoing semiconductor shortage and declining automotive demand has impacted Cooper Standard Holdings’ sales and earnings in the third quarter.

Adjusted earnings (EBITDA) stood at negative €34 million (€29 million), down from $64 million reported in the third quarter of 2020. 

Group sales decreased 23% to $526 million, primarily due to “unfavourable volume and mix” resulting from semiconductor-related customer schedule reductions.

Commenting on the results, chairman and CEO Jeffrey Edwards said the group incurred ‘incremental costs’ from volatile production schedules and materials price inflation.

“Our commercial teams are engaged in aggressive discussions with our customers and suppliers to offset the costs,” he added. 

For the three months to end of September, Cooper Standard reported $123 million net loss, down from $4.4 million income reported last year.

In addition to the chip shortage, Cooper Standard said its income was further impacted by higher commodity and material costs, general inflation and the one-time impact of a credit loss for “certain accounts receivable deemed to be unrecoverable.”