TRW Reaches Two-Year High After Exceeding Estimates

TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., the world’s biggest vehicle-safety equipment maker, rose to a two- year high after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates.

The shares gained 0.8 percent to $60.32 in New York, the highest closing price since Feb. 15, 2011.

Quarterly profit excluding some items was $1.55 a share, the Livonia, Michigan-based company said in a statement today. That beat the $1.34 average of 10 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. TRW’s net income fell 1.4 percent to $419 million, or $3.26 a share, from $425 million, or $3.27, a year earlier.

TRW, like other suppliers of car and truck parts, is grappling with lower demand from automakers operating in Europe, where vehicle sales reached a 19-year low in 2012. The company today forecast that industry production this year will increase 3 percent in North America and slide 4 percent in Europe.

The auto-parts maker said it expects its own full-year sales to be $16.4 billion to $16.7 billion, including about $4.1 billion this quarter. Revenue in 2012 rose 1.2 percent to $16.4 billion.

TRW shares have climbed 13 percent this year, as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has risen 6.6 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Koenig in Southfield, Michigan at wkoenig@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net