Hella, supplier of lighting technology and electronic products for the automotive industry, continued to successfully deliver growth based on preliminary figures for fiscal year 2015/2016.
Group sales grew by 8.9% to EUR6.35bn (US$7.054bn). Adjusted operating profit (EBIT) also increased by 7.1% year on year to EUR476m. The adjusted EBIT margin reached 7.5%. Special effects with negative impacts on earnings – particularly resulting from the extraordinary supplier failure in China in September 2015 – pushed the EBIT down by 2.3% year on year from EUR430m to approximately EUR420m.
"We are content that we have again grown strongly in 2015/2016 in what has been a challenging market environment," said CEO Rolf Breidenbach. "This success is the result of our systematic focus on innovative technologies and products for the automotive industry. Successful product launches based on complex LED technology and innovative electronic components enable us to respond particularly to key megatrends such as improvements to energy efficiency and safety."