Dana Holding buys back $19 million shares in Q2, eyes cash for growth

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., June 13 - Dana Holding Corp. remains diversified around its three end-market segments, as well as globally, according to president and chief executive officer Roger Wood.

The company's sales by geography are 43% in North America, 25% in Europe, 20% in the Asia-Pacific region and 12% in South America.

"Continued margin expansion is the ultimate mission of what we're doing with the appropriate return on investment (and) consistent cash flow for investment and shareholder returns," Wood said during a presentation at the Deutsche Bank 2013 Global Industrials and Basic Materials Conference on Thursday in Chicago.

Dana also has a "very, very stable capital structure" with room to grow on the balance sheet for future opportunities, said Wood.

Share repurchases, cash use

Executive vice president and chief financial officer Bill Quigley addressed Dana's two-year $250 million share repurchase program announced last November.

By the end of 2012, Dana had repurchased $15 million of shares. During the first quarter of 2013, the company repurchased $24 million of shares, with $19 million repurchased early in the second quarter.

Quigley said the purchase pace since April is where the company would like to be in terms of buybacks. An update on the program is expected in July, he said.

Regarding exhaustion of the program, Quigley said the company is being "opportunistic" and "consistent" in its buybacks and is open to the possibility of incremental share repurchases.

When asked about other possible uses of cash, Quigley said, "We certainly want to have the ability to invest in the business, which we're doing from an organic perspective."

Dana would also like to engage in inorganic opportunities, such as technology investments.

"We've taken some steps with respect to other liability management," Quigley added.

As previously reported, Dana ended its first quarter on March 31 with cash and cash equivalents of $981 million and long-term debt of $839 million.

Dana Holding is a Maumee, Ohio-based supplier to vehicular, off-highway and industrial manufacturers.

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