Autoliv has posted third-quarter operating income down 17% to US$158.7m, with consolidated sales of US$2.5bn.
The expectation at the beginning of the quarter was for quarterly organic sales to increase “in the range of 0%-2%” and an adjusted operating margin “in the 7.5%-8% range.”
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For the fourth quarter of 2017, the company expects organic sales to be virtually flat and adjusted operating margin to be more than 9%. Consolidated sales growth is expected to be around 4% in the fourth quarter.
The indication for the full year remains unchanged for adjusted operating margin at around 8.5% and consolidated sales growth at around 3%, while Autoliv now expects organic sales growth of more than 1%.
“The third quarter turned out essentially as we had expected,” said Autoliv president and CEO, Jan Carlson.
“We are in the midst of an intense period of preparing for our future growth, while delivering at the high end of our guided margin range for the quarter.
“These preparations continue into the fourth quarter, where we look forward to see the first step-up in growth in Passive Safety, before gaining momentum early on in 2018. Passive Safety is planning for a total of around 340 product launches in the October 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018 time frame, compared to a total of around 285 product launches in the same period a year earlier.
“This is supporting the anticipated 8% CAGR from 2017 to 2020 we outlined at our Capital Markets Day on 14 September. In the fourth quarter we expect the ramp-up of these product launches to add more than 2pp to organic sales growth in Passive Safety, although this is offset in the fourth quarter by a temporary unfavourable model mix.
“Order intake continued to be strong in Passive Safety, while we are looking at a more back end loaded order intake year for Electronics.”
