American Axle & Manufacturing Reports First Quarter 2009 Financial Results

DETROIT, May 1, 2009 -- American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (AAM), which is traded as AXL on the NYSE, today reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2009.

First Quarter 2009 Results

First quarter sales of $402.4 million

Net loss of $32.7 million, or $0.59 per share

Special charges and other non-recurring operating costs of $12.3 million, or $0.22 per share, primarily related to hourly and salaried workforce reductions, plant closures and other actions to rationalize capacity, redeploy underutilized assets and align AAM's business to current and projected market requirements 36% year-over-year decline in total light truck production volumes as compared to the first quarter of 2008

Content-per-vehicle of $1,424, approximately 7% higher than the previous year

Non-GM sales of $95.6 million, or approximately 24% of total net sales

AAM's results in the first quarter were a net loss of $32.7 million or $0.59 per share. This compares to a net loss of $27.0 million or $0.50 per share in the first quarter of 2008.

In the first quarter of 2009, AAM incurred $12.3 million, or $0.22 per share, of special charges and non-recurring operating costs, primarily related to hourly and salaried workforce reductions (including attrition programs and related statutory benefits), plant closures and other actions to redeploy underutilized assets to avoid future capital spending.

In the first quarter of 2008, AAM recorded $3.5 million, or $0.07 per share, of special charges and non-recurring operating costs, primarily related to the redeployment of machinery and equipment.

"AAM's business continued to be adversely affected by a dramatic downturn in production volumes and revenue generation in the first quarter of 2009," said AAM's Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Richard E. Dauch. "As a result, AAM's entire global management team is doing what is necessary to accelerate and expand reductions to our cost structure and other improvements to our overall market cost competitiveness."

"We are also working to support the flawless and anonymous launch of numerous new product programs for AAM's existing customers and many new customers in 2009. The progress we are making in AAM's comprehensive restructuring plan, as well as the continued expansion and diversification of AAM's customer base and product portfolio is helping to position our company for a return to profitability."

Net sales in the first quarter of 2009 were $402.4 million as compared to $587.6 million in the first quarter of 2008 and $503.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. Customer production volumes for the North American light truck and SUV programs AAM currently supports for GM and Chrysler were down approximately 36% in the first quarter of 2009 as compared to the first quarter of 2008. Non-GM sales represented approximately 24% of total sales in the first quarter of 2009.

AAM's content-per-vehicle is measured by the dollar value of its product sales supporting GM's North American light truck and SUV programs and Chrysler's heavy duty Dodge Ram pickup trucks. For the first quarter of 2009, AAM's content-per-vehicle increased approximately 7% to $1,424 as compared to $1,326 in 2008.

AAM's SG&A spending in the first quarter of 2009 decreased by $5.6 million to $43.8 million as compared to $49.4 million in the first quarter of 2008. AAM's R&D spending for the first quarter of 2009 was approximately $18.7 million as compared to $20.2 million in 2008.

AAM defines free cash flow to be net cash provided by (or used in) operating activities less capital expenditures net of proceeds from the sales of equipment and dividends paid. Net cash used in operating activities for the first quarter of 2009 was $21.3 million. Capital spending and deposits for acquisition of property and equipment, net of proceeds from the sales of equipment in the first quarter of 2009 was $44.3 million as compared to $33.3 million in first quarter of 2008. Reflecting the impact of this activity, AAM's free cash flow was a use of $65.6 million. Included in the first quarter of 2009 cash flow results, AAM paid $36.9 million for special charges, primarily related to hourly and salaried attrition programs and related statutory benefits. In the first quarter of 2008, AAM's free cash flow use was $33.1 million.

A conference call to review AAM's first quarter 2009 results is scheduled today at 10:00 a.m. ET. Interested participants may listen to the live conference call by logging onto AAM's investor web site at http://investor.aam.com/ or calling (877) 278-1452 from the United States or (973) 200-3383 from outside the United States. A replay will be available from 5:00 p.m. ET on May 1, 2009 until 5:00 p.m. ET May 8, 2009 by dialing (800) 642-1687 from the United States or (706) 645-9291 from outside the United States. When prompted, callers should enter conference reservation number 92015050.