Cummins provides business update and withdraws full year guidance
Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) provided a business update in light of recent changes in customer demand and a weaker outlook for the global economy. Today, the Company suspended production at its Midrange Engine Plant in Walesboro, IN, for two weeks in response to the decision by its customer Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to shutdown pickup truck assembly until at least the end of March, as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. This news follows recent communication of lower commercial truck production rates by some of its customers in North America and other plant shutdowns by various OEMs in Europe over the past few days.
While the Company is not announcing any other production suspensions or plant shutdowns at this time, the Company cannot predict if and when further suspensions or shutdowns may arise. Possible causes for further shutdowns include changes in customer demand, shortfalls in supplier deliveries and the impact of government regulations or mandates.
Cummins’ financial results for the first quarter will be impacted by these changes in customer production plans, but a more significant concern is the growing uncertainty about demand for the remainder of 2020. As a result, the Company has withdrawn its guidance for full year 2020 results, which did not factor in the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The Company will comment on its 2020 outlook during its First Quarter 2020 earnings call scheduled for April 28, 2020.
"Cummins is in a strong financial position, we have experienced leaders who have managed through several challenging situations in the past and we will successfully navigate through this difficult period," said Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger.
As of December 31, 2019, the company held cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1.5 billion and committed borrowing capacity of $2.8 billion under existing revolving credit facilities.
Forward-looking disclosure statement
Information provided in this release that is not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our forecasts, guidance, preliminary results, expectations, hopes, beliefs and intentions on strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to our plans and expectations for our revenues and EBITDA. Our actual future results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements because of a number of factors, including, but not limited to: any adverse consequences resulting from entering into the Settlement Agreements, including required additional mitigation projects, adverse reputational impacts and potential resulting legal actions; increased scrutiny from regulatory agencies, as well as unpredictability in the adoption, implementation and enforcement of emission standards around the world; evolving environmental and climate change legislation and regulatory initiatives; changes in international, national and regional trade laws, regulations and policies; changes in taxation; global legal and ethical compliance costs and risks; future bans or limitations on the use of diesel-powered products; raw material, transportation and labor price fluctuations and supply shortages; aligning our capacity and production with our demand; the actions of, and income from, joint ventures and other investees that we do not directly control; large truck manufacturers' and original equipment manufacturers' customers discontinuing outsourcing their engine supply needs or experiencing financial distress, or change in control; product recalls; variability in material and commodity costs; the development of new technologies that reduce demand for our current products and services; lower than expected acceptance of new or existing products or services; product liability claims; our sales mix of products; climate change, global warming, more stringent climate change regulations, accords, mitigation efforts, greenhouse gas regulations or other legislation designed to address climate change; our plan to reposition our portfolio of product offerings through exploration of strategic acquisitions, divestitures or exiting the production of certain product lines or product categories and related uncertainties of such decisions; increasing interest rates; challenging markets for talent and ability to attract, develop and retain key personnel; exposure to potential security breaches or other disruptions to our information technology (IT) environment and data security; the use of artificial intelligence in our business and in our products and challenges with properly managing its use; political, economic and other risks from operations in numerous countries including political, economic and social uncertainty and the evolving globalization of our business; competitor activity; increasing competition, including increased global competition among our customers in emerging markets; failure to meet sustainability expectations or standards, or achieve our sustainability goals; labor relations or work stoppages; foreign currency exchange rate changes; the performance of our pension plan assets and volatility of discount rates; the price and availability of energy; continued availability of financing, financial instruments and financial resources in the amounts, at the times and on the terms required to support our future business; and other risks detailed from time to time in our SEC filings, including particularly in the Risk Factors section of our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this release and we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance may be found in our filings with the SEC, which are available at https://www.sec.gov or at https://investor.cummins.com in the Investor Relations section of our website.
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