Global automotive production decline hits Grammer sales

Ursensollen, Germany – Revenues at seatmaker Grammer, which have been adjusted to account for the sale of TMD Group in September, fell by 4.0% in the first nine months of the year. They declined from €1.53bn in 2023 to €1.47bn this year. The company cited the challenging market environment as a reason for the drop, allied to demand lagging behind expectations.

Operating EBIT for the nine months fell from last year’s €52.4m to €38.0m this year. It attributed this to the fall in revenue, increased costs in the light of volatile plant utilisation, and ramp-up costs for its new commercial vehicles plant in North America.

Looking regionally, revenue dropped from last year’s €920m to €811m this year in EMEA, a 12% fall, with commercial vehicles declining particularly sharply. In contrast, in the APAC region, revenue rose 3.2% to €395m, while it was up 11% in the Americas, to €305m.

“The turnaround in Americas has the highest priority on the path to a sustainable increase in Grammer Group’s profitability,” said CFO Jurate Keblyte. “As part of our Top10 programme, we have set ourselves the goal of concentrating on Grammer’s core competencies and products and streamlining the portfolio. With the sale of the TMD Group, we have taken an important step in this direction.”

She added that the economic crisis is forcing the company to shift the focus of its Top 10 measures to EMEA, accelerating and expanding the planned measures.

The company is maintaining its forecast for full-year operating EBIT, as adjusted in August, at about €56.8m. Its original forecast revenue of €2.3bn will not be achieved, it said, because of the significantly weaker demand and the sale of TMD Group. It is now expected to be about €2.0bn for the full year.

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