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Hanover (dpa) - After an improved result at the start of the year, Continental is hoping that the long corona-clouded business will ease further in the coming months.
The mood is, however, somewhat clouded by the supply bottlenecks for semiconductors, the consequences of which are unlikely to be over yet.
In the first quarter, the Dax group from Hanover achieved a net profit of 448 million euros. In the same period of the previous year - shortly before the virus crisis spread from Asia worldwide - it was 292 million euros, after which the result initially went steeply downhill. As Conti reported on Thursday, the markets for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles are now growing particularly strongly in China. In Europe and North America, however, they were still weaker.
Overall, CEO Nikolai Setzer sees a “successful start” in 2021. Above all, however, the uncertainties surrounding the shortage of semiconductor chips should still be taken into account: “The coming months will remain very challenging.
Because the global economy is only gradually picking up speed - not least because of the bottlenecks in the delivery of electronic components. "
In addition, the prices for important raw materials from the automotive supplier rose.
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Meanwhile, the group-internal and controversial among trade unionists reorganization towards software, sensors and electronics is making "noticeable progress", explained Setzer: "We work off our tasks point by point."
This includes the spin-off of the combustion and electric drives division planned for September.
It will be outsourced to the new company Vitesco.
Excluding this area, Conti wants to achieve sales of EUR 32.5 to 34.5 billion in continued operations in 2021.
Those parts of the core automotive division that remain in the group could come to 16 to 17 billion euros, according to the plans.
Here Conti is also creating an extra area for autonomous driving.
The classic tire business - with capacities under pressure and therefore affected by site closings, but still a profit maker for the group - together with industrial plastics technology (Contitech) is expected to generate 16.5 to 17.5 billion euros in sales in the current year.
It is believed that the cost of raw materials such as rubber will increase.
It was recently unclear whether this would result in higher prices for tire buyers.
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Continental had recently mentioned most of the other business figures.
In the first quarter, sales increased by 3.5 percent to around 10.3 billion euros compared to the same period in the previous year, with adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of 834 million euros.
For the global production of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, the company now expects an increase of 9 to 12 percent in 2021 after the deep Corona dent in 2020.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210506-99-492950 / 2