FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Automotive supplier TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. is alert to possible takeover targets and sees more growth potential in the safety components sector, a senior executive said Monday.
''We have the will and the financial capacity'' for a takeover, Chief Operating Officer Steve Lunn told Dow Jones Newswires on Monday, ahead of the start of the 62nd International Motor Show in Frankfurt. ''It's a very dynamic market, so we have to remain alert. We're not complacent.''
Lunn said he saw more growth potential in safety components and systems, and said TRW wants to build up that core activity rather than entering all-new market segments in the short term.
Michigan-based TRW, a producer of safety products such as air bags, seat belts, braking systems and stability controls, is the world's 10th-biggest auto parts supplier by sales.
Lunn said TRW wants to ''strengthen its footprint in Asia.''
Unlike many of its U.S.-based peers, TRW's large presence in Europe, where the company generates about 56 percent of its overall sales, has helped it offset weaker business development in the United States.
TRW reported a nearly 7 percent increase in second-quarter net income to US$97 million (euro70.3 million), compared with US$91 million a year earlier, as stronger production in Europe and Asia and favorable currency rates offset lower North American volumes.
Sales totaled US$3.8 billion (euro2.75 billion), an increase of 8.5 percent on the year.