Germany-based
Schaeffler, a global automotive and industrial supplier, has reported a solid start to 2023. Revenue for the reporting period amounted to 4,152 million euros (prior year: 3,758 million euros), corresponding to a constant-currency increase in revenue of 10.4% to which all divisions and regions contributed.
Revenue in the automotive technologies, automotive aftermarket and industrial divisions grew by 6%, 25.7% and 13.4% at constant currency. Revenue rose considerably, especially in Europe, where it was up 17.3%. In the Americas region, revenue grew by 5.4% at constant currency, with the Greater China region achieving constant-currency revenue growth of 1%. Meanwhile, in the Asia/Pacific region, revenue increased by 12.9% at constant currency.
The Schaeffler Group generated 336 million euros (prior year: 258 million euros) in EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) before special items in the first three months of the year, representing an EBIT margin before special items of 8.1% (prior year: 6.9%). The rise in the EBIT margin before special items was primarily attributable to sales mix and volumes.
Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler AG, gave his assessment of the first quarter of 2023: “Schaeffler grew by more than 10% in the first three months of the year — a development driven first and foremost by the automotive aftermarket and industrial divisions. The improvement in the EBIT margin before special items to 8.1%, to which the automotive technologies and automotive aftermarkets made a particularly strong contribution, was encouraging and also deserves special mention.”
Schaeffler AG’s CFO Claus Bauer added: “All divisions made important contributions to the Schaeffler Group’s encouraging results. The negative free cash flow is partly due to one-off payments. The improvement in our credit rating from Moody’s, which was communicated at the end of March, is pleasing and underscores the Schaeffler Group’s excellent liquidity and strong balance sheet. We will continue to work on our financial performance and will seize potential for optimisation.”
Mr Rosenfeld concluded: “The Schaeffler Group is sticking to the trajectory of growth defined in its ‘Roadmap 2025’. We continue investing in our future-oriented fields and will further improve our profitability.”