FX.co ★ Continental AG Slips To Q1 Loss On Weak Sales; Sees Earnings Growth Ahead, Confirms FY24 View

German auto components manufacturer, Continental AG, has revealed a stark downturn in its first-quarter profits this year. The company ended up with a net loss attributable to shareholders of €53 million — a noticeable dip from the previous year's profit of €382 million.

This translates to a loss per share of €0.27, whereas just a year ago, the profit per share was €1.91. The adjusted operating result, or EBIT, was €196 million down by 65.8% from last year's €574 million. The adjusted EBIT margin plummeted to 2% compared to the 5.6% of the previous year.

The consolidated sales for the company also took a hit, coming in at €9.8 billion, a 5% decrease from last year's €10.3 billion.

However, not all hope is lost. Continental projects an upswing in profits as 2024 unfolds, particularly eyeing improvements in the latter half of the year in the wake of a lackluster first quarter.

For the record, Continental still predicts its consolidated sales for 2024 to be within the region of €41.0 billion to €44.0 billion, along with an approximated EBIT margin of 6.0% to 7.0%.

Despite the disappointing first quarter, Continental’s CFO, Katja Garcia Vila, exudes confidence about the future. She stated, "We see sufficient potential for improvement across all group sectors, hence we are confirming our outlook for fiscal 2024."

As a whole, Continental maintains that the production of global passenger cars and light commercial vehicles will roughly align with last year's levels, trending within a range from -1% to +1%.