Autoneum: full numbers paint a tough 2018 in automotive

Winterthur Switzerland — Car interior components maker Autoneum had sales of CHF 2.3bn ($2.3 bn) in 2018, up slightly by 1.4% on the previous financial year.

EBITDA across the business fell markedly by -23.5% compared with 2017 and reached CHF 197.2m in the 2018 financial year.

If 2018 was tough for the company, 2019 looks like it could be tougher. Autoneum said that the automotive market is stagnating, and losses in the US and China will result in lower profitability in the first half of the year. 'Based on the countermeasures taken, we should

reach substantial improvements in 2020 and return to profitability in 2021,' it said.

Looking more closely at 2018, the company's Europe business sales grew by 11.5% between 2017 and 2018. They reached CHF 984m in the 2018 financial year. This compares with CHF 884m in the previous year.

In 2018, the company added capacity for carpet systems, inner dashes and wheel house outer liners at its Hungarian plant in Komarom. In addition, this year it plans to add production facilities for tooling and foam moulding in Hnatnice, Czech Republic

Autoneum said that 2018 marked the first year since the financial crash that automotive production had fallen year-on-year across the world.

In North America, operational inefficiencies hit the business as plants were retooled for new car models. Asia struggled with higher material and labour costs. There was steady business performance in Europe. In addition, SMEA, the rest of the world division, performed strongly at the earnings level.

The company's North America business sales fell by 4.4% between 2017 and 2018. They reached CHF 921m in the 2018 financial year. This compares with CHF 964m in the previous year.

At the same time, these difficulties fed through to EBITDA in the region. This metric fell by 72.60% between 2017 and 2018. In 2018, the number was CHF 27.4m. This compares with CHF 100.00m in the previous year.

The company's Asia business had sales which grew by 7.4% between 2017 and 2018. Sales here reached CHF 260m in 2018; this compares with CHF 242m in the previous year.

Meanwhile, in Asia, increasing raw material and labour costs fed through to EBITDA . This fell from CHF 38.4m in 2017 to CHF 30.9m in 2018.

SMEA is a small division covering the rest of the world. This generated sales of CHF 110m, itself down by -1.87% on 2018. However, EBITDA leapt by 175.47% to CHF 14.6m in the 2018 financial year. High production quantities in Brazil, and continued high-level production in Turkey and South Africa, drove this business sector along in 2018.

The company's largest customers in 2018 were: Ford with sales of CHF 340m; BMW(CHF 262m); and Honda (CHF 248m).

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