(Reuters) -British auto parts supplier Dowlais said on Thursday it expects full-year performance to be toward the lower end of its forecast, citing increased economic uncertainty stemming from recent U.S. tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have sparked weeks of instability in the auto industry, prompting automakers to revise forecasts, shift production plans, and temporarily shut down plants.
The GKN Automotive owner had earlier forecast flat to mid-single-digit adjusted revenue decline and an adjusted operating margin of 6.5% to 7.0% on a constant currency basis for 2025.
Dowlais said while it does not expect these tariffs to significantly hurt the company’s overall financial performance for the year, it plans to offset additional costs by passing them on to customers.
GKN, a mainstay of British engineering, has changed hands multiple times since 2018, when it succumbed to an 8 billion pound hostile bid from Melrose.
In 2023, Melrose spun off GKN’s automotive and powder metallurgy businesses by listing Dowlais – named after the village in South Wales where GKN was founded.
Dowlais, which makes driveline systems and other automotive parts, in January agreed to be bought by Detroit-based American Axle & Manufacturing in a deal valued at $1.44 billion.
On Thursday, Dowlais said it expects tariff-related cost recovery to mainly happen in the second half of the year, leading to a weaker trading and cash flow performance in the first half.
(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru;Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
