Schaeffler
The industry is currently under pressure from several sides.
(Photo: IMAGO/Lutz Winkler)
The automotive supplier Schaeffler has slightly raised its profit forecast for the current year, mainly thanks to a strong spare parts business. “The second half of the year is likely to be challenging for our business,” said CEO Klaus Rosenfeld on Wednesday. However, it is becoming apparent that the positive trend in the so-called aftermarket business will continue. In this way, Schaeffler can also compensate for weaknesses in its industrial division.
In the second quarter, Schaeffler’s revenues increased by seven percent to a good four billion euros. The operating result before special effects increased by 44 percent to 289 million euros. For the year as a whole, the Franconian group continues to expect sales growth of five to eight percent. The operating margin (EBIT) should now be six to eight percent, half a percentage point more than before.
Things are going better than expected for Schaeffler in the business with car manufacturers and with spare parts. In contrast, the group lowered expectations for the industrial division. In the second quarter, operating profit fell here by 22 percent to 97 million euros. “Countermeasures have been initiated to counteract the current negative margin trend,” said Rosenfeld.
The automotive suppliers have to contend with many challenges
Overall, however, things are going well at Schaeffler. A few days ago, Continental warned investors that the automotive division had slipped into the red in operational terms in the second quarter. The reason is “essentially high negative effects from currency conversion and ongoing costs for special freight”.
The industry is currently under pressure from several sides. Automakers like Volkswagen are driving prices down because they want to cut costs. In addition, Korean and Chinese suppliers have recently been able to gain market share. And finally, the German car manufacturers and suppliers have to manage the transformation into the electric age, others were sometimes faster.
In the past full year, Schaeffler increased sales by a good nine percent to 15.8 billion euros, adjusted for currency effects. A third of the growth was due to higher prices. The operating result before special effects fell from a good 1.2 to around one billion euros, which corresponded to a margin of 6.6 percent.
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