The automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler increased its bottom line loss in the third quarter, primarily due to impairments resulting from a software change. The net loss in the third quarter was 287 million euros, as the SDax group announced on Tuesday in Herzogenaurach. A year earlier, Schaeffler had also posted red numbers, but the loss was significantly smaller at 45 million euros.
In addition to further costs for the ongoing job cuts in Europe, this time the company primarily took impairment losses for the conversion SAP-Operating software on a cloud solution in the books. The Middle Franconians had already presented figures for daily business at the end of September and also raised the annual forecast for the development of free financial resources due to a surprisingly good performance.
Sales fell by 2 percent to 5.83 billion euros in the third quarter. However, this was mainly due to the weak US dollar – without exchange rate changes, revenue would have increased by 1.3 percent, as already known. Earnings before interest and taxes adjusted for special effects increased by 28.1 percent to 264 million euros compared to the pro forma figures for the previous year. Schaeffler assumes that the acquired drive specialist Vitesco
would have already been part of the group at that time. As forecast, the corresponding operating margin rose by one percentage point to 4.5 percent.
Investing in humanoid robots
Schaeffler also announced a collaboration with the tech company Neura Robotics on Tuesday. The company wants to integrate a mid-four-digit number of robots into its production network by 2035. The collaboration is, among other things, about generating training data. Car manufacturers have been experimenting with the use of humanoid robots in production for a long time. Schaeffler produces, among other things, gears that are needed for the joints of the robots.
Schaeffler is also making progress with the cleanup work following the takeover of Vitesco and has now sold the turbocharger business in China. The division with 50 employees and 100 million euros in sales will go to the Chinese turbocharger specialist Xiling, it was said. Schaeffler did not comment on the purchase price. Schaeffler boss Klaus Rosenfeld (59) said the sale was announced at the Capital Markets Day. Further steps followed.
Schaeffler is in the Supplier crisis comparatively well off – also because of its diversified businesses. The automotive and industrial supplier is one of the largest companies in the industry worldwide. However, like many competitors, he also wants to significantly reduce staff. He has announced that 4,700 jobs will be cut in Europe, including 2,800 in Germany.