Delphi posts wider first-quarter net loss

DETROIT (Reuters) - Bankrupt U.S. auto parts maker Delphi Corp DPHIQ.PK said on Friday its first-quarter net loss widened under production cuts at major customer and former parent General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Delphi also said it expected to continue to have adequate access to liquidity for the rest of 2008 as it works on its reorganization plan.

The net loss widened to $589 million, or $1.04 per share, from $533 million, or 95 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell to $5.3 billion from $5.7 billion.

Revenue from GM, still its biggest customer, fell due to price reductions on parts supplied to the automaker and GM North America plant idlings as a result of a union strike at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc (AXL.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Revenue from companies other than GM rose overall, but declined 4 percent excluding favorable foreign currency rates.

Delphi, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2005, has cut thousands of jobs and divested several business units in its reorganization.

Delphi has said it was set to begin the final stages of exiting bankruptcy protection in early April when an investor group led by Appaloosa Management LP backed out of a $2.55 billion equity plan to support the reorganization.

The company has begun the process of reworking the financial details in the equity plan and its exit financing. A prior $6.1 billion exit financing deal expired when the company failed to emerge from bankruptcy by mid April.

Delphi negotiated new debtor-in-possession financing that extends through 2008 to complete the reorganization and said on Friday it would seek to increase the DIP facility to $4.35 billion from a previously approved $4.1 billion.