Beru forecast more growth on Thursday after a jump in nine-month profits, thanks to new products which have offset price pressures from customers, Reuters reported.
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Shares in Beru reportedly rose 5% after the maker of electronics and ignition components for carmakers, including DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen and Ford, said earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 22% to €41.6 million ($US52.72 million) in the nine months to the end of December.
“Depending on the start-up speed of our new projects, we assume that we will at least achieve our goal for the full year of increasing sales revenues by 15%,” chief executive Marco von Maltzan said in a statement cited by Reuters.
Consolidated revenues in the first nine months grew 15.9% to €248.3 million, while orders rose 17.2% to €265.3 million.
Beru said profitability also improved as its EBIT margin climbed to 16.8% from 15.9% the year before and hit a high of 18.2% in the third quarter thanks to stabilising material costs and lower staff expenses relative to sales.
Reuters noted that Beru cut its workforce to 2,690 from 2,718 in the last three months of 2003 and it should drop further as the company focuses spark plug production at its French plant in Chazelles-sur-Lyon.
Profitability also rose as Beru’s high-growth unit making tyre pressure monitoring systems for cars like Volkswagen’s Touareg and Porsche’s Cayenne broke even.
For the next business year, starting in April, Beru expects more double-digit organic growth thanks to eight new products such as an electronically-controlled heating system for high-volume diesel versions of VW’s new Golf V and the next generation of the Ford Focus, Reuters added.
At its core diesel business, which accounts for about half of revenues, sales rose a more modest 6% but Beru forecast more growth thanks to deliveries of new cold start products for Mercedes and General Motors.
