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China problems slow down Schaeffler sales - But more profit

(dpa/lby/fn) The automotive and industrial supplier earned more in a challenging environment than expected by experts. Ultimately, company CEO Rosenfeld was even able to report a significant increase thanks to special effects.

The automotive and industrial supplier earned more in a challenging environment than experts had anticipated. (Photo: Daniel Karmann/dpa)
The automotive and industrial supplier earned more in a challenging environment than experts had anticipated. (Photo: Daniel Karmann/dpa)
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von Franziska Neuner

Before the upcoming merger with e-mobility specialist Vitesco in the fourth quarter, the automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler was unable to grow in the first three months of the new fiscal year. Revenue remained at 4.085 billion euros, which is 1.6 percent below the previous year's level, the company announced on Tuesday. However, a significant currency-adjusted increase in revenue is still expected for the entire fiscal year. On the bottom line, group profit rose by almost 80 percent to 231 million euros. Special effects played a role here.

CEO Klaus Rosenfeld attributed the revenue declines primarily to more challenging business with wind power drives in China.

“We had problems with wind in China. There is strong price competition there,” Rosenfeld told the German Press Agency.

Last year, business in China was very strong. Additionally, the first quarter had fewer working days due to the early Easter holiday in Europe compared to the previous year. However, the lower revenues were offset by a strong aftermarket business, which primarily focuses on the repair of its own products.

The merger decided by the shareholders' meetings and initiated with the e-mobility specialist Vitesco is currently being meticulously prepared.

"The merger is going well. We are preparing for Day One as planned," said Rosenfeld.

A team of 1,200 employees is involved in the integration preparations. At Schaeffler itself, e-mobility is also gaining further importance. In the first quarter, orders worth 1.5 billion euros were received in the e-mobility sector. The order intake for the entire automotive division amounted to 2.1 billion euros in total.

"It was good to maintain the business with combustion engines. Equally correct is the forward-looking decision towards e-mobility."

Despite a Difficult Environment, Profitability Nearly Stable

Despite the challenging environment, the Herzogenaurach-based company maintained profitability nearly stable, with the decline in earnings being noticeably smaller than feared. The adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) decreased by 4.1 percent year-over-year to 322 million euros in the first quarter, the company further reported. Analysts had previously anticipated a significantly larger drop. The corresponding operating margin stood at 7.9 percent, just 0.2 percentage points below the previous year's value.

“We are maintaining our outlook for the full year unchanged,” said Rosenfeld.

Translated automatically from German.
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