With a rise in sales of 10.3% in local currencies, Autoneum also significantly exceeded the 2.4% growth of global automobile production in the first six months of 2016.

Sales growth

Sales in Swiss francs rose by 7.6% from CHF 1,014.1 million to CHF 1,091.3 million. While automobile production in Europe, North America and Asia increased compared to the first half of 2015, year-on-year production volumes continued to fall sharply in the SAMEA market region (South America, Middle East and Africa).

Nevertheless, all four Business Groups (BG) recorded organic sales growth that in some cases lay considerably above the market level in the first six months of 2016, the company reports. The factors for this were high production volumes for newly launched models in Europe, the supply of high-selling models in North America and production for Japanese vehicle manufacturers in all regions.

Improved profitability

Autoneum’s operational success is also reflected by the further improvement of profitability. The decisive factors for this were the high production capacity utilization in Europe and North America, increases in productivity across all regions and lower raw material prices in Europe and Asia, according to the manufacturer.

EBITDA before special effects grew to CHF 123.8 million in the first half of 2016, which is equivalent to an EBITDA margin of 11.3%. Including the gain of CHF 33.2 million from the disposal of the UGN business in Chicago Heights, IL, US, Autoneum recorded an EBITDA margin of 14.4%. EBIT before special effects improved significantly from CHF 77.6 million in the first half of 2015 to CHF 89.9 million. The EBIT margin thus climbed by 0.6 percentage points on the prior-year period to 8.2% and exceeded the 8% mark for the first time.

Business Groups

At 5.7%, Business Group (BG) Europe once again raised its net sales in local currencies. Net sales in Swiss francs grew by CHF 26.8 million to CHF 433.3 million. EBIT climbed from CHF 21.7 million to CHF 32.9 million. The increases in profitability were driven by high production volumes for French, US-American and Korean manufacturers and correspondingly utilized production capacities and reduced material costs.

The strong sales growth of BG North America of 13.6% in local currencies outperformed market growth in this region. Net sales in Swiss francs climbed by 9.4% to CHF 517.5 million. As the earnings contribution lost from the disposal of the US-based UGN business in Chicago Heights has not been entirely compensated yet, the EBIT margin before special effects fell by 0.5 percentage points compared with the first half of 2015 to 8.9%.

With an increase of 18.1% in local currencies, net sales of BG Asia in Swiss francs grew by 16.3% to CHF 99.6 million. EBIT improved from CHF 11.9 million to CHF 13.3 million. At 13.3%, the EBIT margin fell slightly short of the above-average margin of the prior-year period due to further investments in the strengthening of the local market presence.

Despite the decline of the key market of Brazil, net sales of BG SAMEA (South America, Middle East and Africa) recorded growth of 11% in local currencies thanks to gains in market shares in Argentina and higher export volumes in South Africa and Turkey. Due to the massive devaluation of the Brazilian real and the Argentine peso, net sales in Swiss francs fell by 11.2% to CHF 42.8 million. EBIT decreased by CHF 0.8 million to CHF -4.9 million.

Outlook

Assuming sales growth remains above the market level in the second half of the year, Autoneum expects net sales of up to CHF 2,200 million for the full year 2016. Based on unchanged market conditions in the second half of 2016, an EBIT margin above 8% should also be recorded for the year as a whole, the company reports.

www.autoneum.com