Magna International Inc. (NYSE:MGA) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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John Murphy: Okay. And then just second on the midterm, the ’23 to ’25 in your guidance, I mean, you once again, kind of 27% incremental. So, after what we’re seeing from ’22 to ’23, I think there’s a little bit of consternation that those might be a little bit on the optimistic side. I mean it is really a question of the markets normalizing on volume and volatility and cost inflation normalizing? Or is there something else that you can really control that will drive that kind of upside?

Swamy Kotagiri: There’s a couple — yes, a few factors, John. I think one definitely is we can just hope, right? We are hoping that the market stabilizes, but we can just bank on that. Some of it is accelerated continuous improvement, how we’re looking at it. We have had discussions in ’22 on recoveries with customers and they continue to happen, and we have started those discussions for ’23 already back in the Q4 of ’22. So, they really know where we stand. And it’s not just limited to 2023. There is pre-2023 discussions that continue to be had. So, it’s a mix of all of those. But I think we’re also looking at the operational efficiency and excellence that I talked about is going to be a key priority, right, get back to the cash flow generation, looking at not even having the surprises that we’ve had, looking at true causes and how do we make it better. So, it’s a combination of those.

John Murphy: Seems like you’re being awful polite given the volatility in the schedules that you’re being given. Just lastly, real quick on Veoneer, what will be the financial impact? If you can just remind us on cash out the door accretive when it becomes accretive? And if we think about that in the context of the balance sheet. Does that put us in a position where there’s likely to be no buybacks in ’23 and ’24 as capital is allocated in that direction that balance sheet normalizes?

Patrick McCann: Hi. John, it’s Pat. Let me — maybe I’ll answer those in reverse order, if that’s okay? So, if you think about the share buybacks, our financial strategy has been pretty clear, which is number one priority is investment grade ratings. Number two is to grow the business. And then if there’s cash left over after those activities, we’d be returning it through share buyback. Given the capital levels and the acquisition of Veoneer, our intention would be that we’re not going to have any share buybacks in 2023, and we will normalize come back within our targeted leverage ratios and that we would obviously revisit that in 2024. Veoneer itself, on the acquisition, we’re still targeting a midyear close on that transaction.

On a stand-alone basis, they’re expected to be post breakeven in 2023, on a full year basis, where it’s going to be marginally decremental in 2023, given the PPA that we have in there. As we move into ’24, the first full year of ownership, we expect it to be breakeven at the Magna level excluding PPA.

John Murphy: Great. I mean the cash out the door for that?

Patrick McCann: The transaction price is approximately $1.5 billion.

Operator: Our next question is from the line of Adam Jonas with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

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