HANOVER (dpa-AFX) - Responding to media reports, Continental AG (CTTAY.PK), a German automotive supplier and tire manufacturer, confirmed Tuesday that it is in the early stages of analyzing how its organization can become even more flexible in response to the fast changing environment in the automotive industry. In this process the company is supported by external advisors.
'As of today it is wide open, if and which changes could result from these early evaluations. To date there are no plans which could be submitted for approval,' Continental said.
Earlier today, Bloomberg reported that Continental was in exploratory talks with advisers on what could amount to its biggest-ever overhaul and a possible breakup of the German auto-parts supplier. Continental could create a holding company for its divisions and then list shares of the more profitable units, such as the tire business, or combine some operations with rivals. The review remains at an early stage, with no decision on whether the changes would be carried out.
Meanwhile, Continental reported preliminary sales of around 44 billion euros in 2017, representing a more than 8 percent growth year-on-year, and an adjusted EBIT margin of around 10.8 percent. Automotive Group's incoming orders rose to more than 39 billion euros in 2017.
'As expected, the fourth quarter of the past fiscal year saw solid sales and Earnings. This was due primarily to the growth of our Automotive divisions and of our industry specialist ContiTech, as well as our business with winter tires, where sales volumes in 2017 again surpassed the strong figures of the prior year,' said CFO Wolfgang Schaefer.
For 2018, Continental anticipates sales to grow to around 47 billion euros. An adjusted EBIT margin of around 10.5 percent is expected to be achieved comfortably. At the same time, the company from Hanover, Germany, which is isted in the DAX30 prime standard, expects a slight increase in the global production of cars and light commercial vehicles of more than 1 percent to around 97 million vehicles.
Continental said it will release its preliminary business figures on March 8, 2018.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX