Autoliv has posted fourth-quarter 2021 net sales down 15.8% to US$2.12bn, with adjusted operating income falling from US$311m to US$177m.
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“The fourth quarter of 2021 remained challenging with indirect effects from COVID-19 continuing to impact our business,” said Autoliv president & CEO, Mikael Bratt.
“LVP continued to be limited by lack of semiconductors, although the situation improved in the latter part of the quarter with improved call-off stability bringing some cause for cautious optimism for LVP growth in 2022.
“I am pleased our operating income was solid, despite headwinds from lower sales, raw material costs and currency exchange rates. I am also pleased our cash flow and balance sheet remained strong, that we raised the quarterly dividend to US$0.64 and our leverage ratio remained well within our target range. We met our guidance for 2021 with organic sales growth of around 8%, adjusted operating margin of 8.3% and operating cash flow of US$754m.
“The fourth quarter saw significant outperformance of low safety content markets vs. high safety content markets, generating a significant negative regional mix for the quarter and the full year.
“A record number of new product launches in 2021 supports a strong outperformance in 2022. In 2021, we estimate we booked around 50% of all available orders globally.
“Based on an assumption of LVP growth of around 9%, supported by a positive regional mix and high number of product launches, we expect to grow organically by around 20%, generating an adjusted operating margin of around 9.5% for the full year 2022.”
