This week I’d like to share an update on the progress we’ve made on our restart plans as well as actions taken to help protect the long-term health of the company. As you know, production is underway at all of our plants in China, where most OEMs’ production capacities are expected to reach normal levels by the end of April. We are cautiously optimistic about the industry there.
A few Adient plants in the Americas and EMEA regions will restart in the next few weeks as our customers resume production. Our Torslanda, Sweden plant, for example, restarted this week to support Volvo. Managers report that the start-up went “very well” and they are following new protocols to ensure the health and safety of our returning employees. These new practices are detailed in our “COVID-19 Return to Work Guide,” which outlines changes we’ve made to health and safety procedures based on recommended best practices from global health agencies. These include an employee well-being policy, virus prevention practices, cleaning checklists and informative posters. Your manager will share the guide and other information specific to your facility with you before you return to work. You can also access it on the portal and adient.com later this week.
The most significant news is from the financial front. As you know, we continue to explore opportunities to provide financial liquidity for Adient’s near- and long-term health. Since there is still much uncertainty about the pace at which production will return as well as consumer demand for new vehicles, it is important we have enough cash on hand. Yesterday, we announced that Adient had issued $600M in 5-year notes at a rate of 9.0%. This move was very well-received by the market and demand for these notes was strong. This action enabled us to “upsize” the amount raised by $100M. This means that we expected to raise $500M but the strong demand enabled us to secure $600M at a rate lower than what the banks were forecasting. This shows that the market has recognized and endorsed the progress we have made with our turnaround plan despite the current challenging environment.
Thank you for continued support and engagement. May you and your families stay safe and healthy.
Doug Del Grosso
President and CEO |
