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TRW Announces Expected First Quarter Results

14 April 1999

TRW Announces Expected First Quarter Results

    CLEVELAND--April 14, 1999--TRW Inc. announced that it expects to report net earnings per share for the quarter ended March 31, 1999 of approximately $.83 before automotive restructuring charges, the impact of the LucasVarity acquisition and other one-time nonrecurring items on sales of approximately $3 billion.
    Space, Defense and Information Systems sales are expected to be slightly below the first quarter of 1998 due to delays in the start-up of commercial space programs and reduced funding on current programs. However, the company continues to believe that the segment's sales should grow five to ten percent year over year with the expected award and start-up of new programs in the second half of the year.
    Automotive margins are expected to decrease in the first quarter compared with the same period in the prior year due to delays in anticipated savings associated with the automotive restructuring and higher start-up costs related to new facilities and products. The previously announced objective of improving automotive margins by 1.5 percentage points in early 2000 is, therefore, expected to take longer. The company continues to believe, however, that automotive margins will improve in 1999 compared with 1998.
    "We remain fully committed to improving the performance of the company. In addition, we continue to believe that the LucasVarity acquisition will be accretive to earnings in 1999," said Joseph T. Gorman, chief executive officer.
    Important factors that could cause TRW's actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this release include the ability to achieve customer awards and funding, realize cost reductions, mitigate pricing pressure, and effectively implement the restructuring program and the integration of LucasVarity in the company's automotive business. Additional factors can be found in TRW's Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 29, 1998 and in Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis -- Forward-Looking Statements" in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. TRW undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
    TRW, with sales of approximately $12 billion in 1998, provides advanced technology products and services for the automotive, space and defense, and information technology markets. The company's news releases are available through TRW's corporate Web site (http://www.trw.com/).