Faurecia has announced first half net profit up 82% on a year earlier to EUR185.8m.
The company said that the result was driven by strong volume growth with a 19% increase in first-half sales to EUR8,150m. The company has also raised its full-year earnings forecast.
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“Growth should remain steady in the second half of the year in all regions and is expected to remain solid in medium term driven by a high level of new program acquisitions,” the company said in a statement.
First-half operating income stood at EUR340m, a 57% increase compared with the same period the previous year. This represents 4.2% of total sales compared with 3.2% in the first half of 2010. Faurecia said that the improvement is a result of the rapid growth in sales volume and a further reduction in fixed costs in Europe, while the large number of new programs and plants starting up in North and South America as well as in Asia has contributed to an increase in fixed costs outside Europe.
Faurecia also noted the impact of increased raw material costs but said that the ‘significant rise’ in steel and plastics prices in the first half of the year had only a limited net impact on operating income (EUR29m).
Faurecia’s product sales to the North American market surged 28.6% in the first half from a year earlier, and were up 14.8% in Asia (10.5% up in China). In Europe, sales were up 15.3%.
Faurecia said that its strong result for the first-half means that it is now one year ahead of schedule in its 2010-2014 plan presented in June 2010.
Consolidated sales for 2011 have been revised up to between EUR15,700m and EUR15,900m (compared with EUR14,800m-EUR15,300m targeted in February 2011). Operating income for 2011 is projected at between EUR620m and EUR650m (compared with EUR580m-EUR640m targeted in February 2011).
