Industrial group Robert Bosch has posted 2004 sales growth that showed it was the world’s largest car parts maker, but it warned on Thursday that growth would slow and declined to confirm its 2005 margin goal, Reuters reported.
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Revenues at its automotive division increased roughly 7 percent to 25.3 billion euros ($32.93 billion) in 2004, as the Stuttgart-based company overtook Delphi for the first time. Earlier this week Delphi posted 2004 revenue of $28.7 billion.
Analysts note that the weak dollar will have helped to tip the balance as Delphi earns a higher proportion of its revenues in dollars.
After reporting a 10 percent rise in overall group sales to 40 billion euros in 2004, Bosch said it expects 2005 turnover to grow at two-thirds the pace of last year.
Privately held Bosch improved its earnings margin to over 6 percent before taxes in 2004 from 5 percent a year earlier.
Chief Executive Franz Fehrenbach said: “Size alone is not what counts for us. We are far more interested in innovative strength, competitiveness, customer focus, and internationalism.”
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By GlobalDataAs far as the 2005 outlook is concerned, he added: “We should by no means take it for granted that the good progress we made in 2004 will continue in a straight line.” In this context, he referred to the global economic slowdown, to the burdens of increased raw materials prices, and to a strong euro. Nor could it be ruled out, he said, that new political crises would place a burden on the global economy.
