HELLA starts the new fiscal year with double-digit sales growth

Lippstadt, 29 September 2022. HELLA, the automotive supplier operating under the FORVIA umbrella brand, has started the short fiscal year 2022 with double-digit sales growth. In the first quarter (1 June to 31 August 2022) Group sales increased by 21.6 percent year-on-year to € 1.8 billion (previous year: € 1.5 billion). Adjusted for currency and portfolio effects, sales increased by 16.3 percent to € 1.7 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (adjusted EBIT) were on the same level with the prior-year period at € 91 million. This reflects rising cost burdens, particularly for materials, energy and logistics, and high capital expenditures to manage the high order backlog. The adjusted EBIT margin was 5.1 percent (previous year: 6.2 percent). Reported EBIT for the three-month period was € 75 million (previous year: € 79 million), and the reported EBIT margin was 4.2 percent (previous year: 5.4 percent).

"We have started the new fiscal year very strongly with double-digit sales growth, mainly due to the high demand for our lighting and electronics products. At the same time, we have continued to fill our order books," says HELLA CEO Michel Favre. "In addition, our measures to gradually increase profitability are also having an impact. For instance, we were already able to cushion the effects of inflation to some extent by passing on price increases more strongly as well as by continuous cost management, and improved our adjusted EBIT margin by 2.6 percentage points compared to the previous fourth quarter."

Strong demand for HELLA core products and technologies in all three business groups: Lighting, Electronics and Lifecycle Solutions

In the first quarter of the fiscal year, all three business groups reported positive business development. In the Lighting business group, sales rose by 22.8 percent to € 838 million (previous year: € 682 million). This was mainly driven by higher production volumes in China as well as in South and North America. In the Electronics business group, sales improved by 26.6 percent to € 799 million (previous year: € 632 million), partly due to high demand for product solutions for electromobility. The Lifecycle Solutions business group increased sales by 6.4 percent to € 240 million (previous year: € 225 million). On the one hand, the aftermarket business developed successfully in various country markets; on the other hand, all relevant customer segments in the Special Applications area developed positively, such as business with manufacturers of agricultural machinery.

HELLA continues internationalization of business with disproportionate growth in China as well as in North and South America

In the first three months of the short fiscal year 2022, HELLA also continued the internationalization of its business. In both Asia and the Americas, sales increased disproportionately as a result of large-volume production ramp-ups and developed significantly better than vehicle production there. In Asia, the company's sales increased by 57.3 percent to € 478 million (previous year: € 304 million); in North and South America by 34.0 percent to € 407 million (previous year: € 304 million). In Europe, HELLA achieved sales growth of 4.7 percent to € 906 million (previous year: € 866 million).

Company outlook confirmed despite various market uncertainties

HELLA's corporate outlook for the period from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2023 remains in line with the forecast published in the 2021/2022 Annual Report. Accordingly, the company expects to achieve currency and portfolio-adjusted Group sales in the range of around € 7.1 billion to € 7.6 billion in this period. The EBIT margin adjusted for structural measures and portfolio effects is expected to be in the range of around 5.5 to 7.0 percent.

"Despite a variety of market uncertainties, we still expect the global automotive economy to recover. In this context, our corporate outlook is based on expected global light vehicle production of 80 to 84 million vehicles. That is around 4 to 8 million units more than in the previous year," says HELLA CEO Michel Favre. "This projected increase in volumes for the coming months will spur demand for our products and further support our sales development. Above all, we will also continue to improve our profitability step by step on the basis of higher production volumes, the consistent passing on of cost burdens, and increasing synergy effects from the cooperation with Faurecia."

Selected key financial data in € millions or as a percentage of sales (1 June to 31 August):