Lighting and electronics specialist, HELLA has continued its profitable growth path in the fiscal year 2017/2018 (June 1, 2017, to May 31, 2018).
The currency-adjusted consolidated sales rose to 9.3 per cent.
Reported sales rose by 7.2 per cent to € 7.1 billion.
At the same time, the company became more profitable.
The adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 8.8 per cent to € 581 million, making the adjusted EBIT margin 8.2 per cent.
Taking special effects into account, the reported EBIT increased by 13.2 per cent to € 574 million, with the reported EBIT margin increasing to 8.1 per cent.
The adjusted free cash flow from operating activities improved significantly compared to the previous year, rising by 62 per cent to € 241 million.
“We have enjoyed significantly stronger growth than the automotive market and further increased our profitability despite the challenging industry environment”, explains HELLA CEO Dr. Rolf Breidenbach.
“This proves that our clear strategic approach is in line with the key trends on the automotive market such as autonomous driving, efficiency and electrification, connectivity and digitalisation, as well as individualisation, and that we have positioned ourselves correctly with our innovative products to benefit from the automotive industry’s transformation.”
Automotive segment drives group-wide sales growth
In the fiscal year 2017/2018, the automotive segment played a major role in the group-wide sales increase. Reported segment sales increased by 8.0 per cent to € 5.4 billion.
Together with ongoing capacity expansions and significant research and development activities, the adjusted EBIT in the automotive segment rose by 3.3 per cent to €459 million.
This corresponds to an adjusted EBIT margin of 8.5 per cent.
The segment’s reported EBIT increased by 2.8 per cent to € 457 million; the reported EBIT margin therefore amounts to 8.4 per cent.
Aftermarket significantly improves earnings before interest and taxes
In the aftermarket segment, sales with external customers rose by 3.4 per cent to € 1.2 billion in the past fiscal year.
This sales growth was supported by positive development in all of the segment’s business fields.
In addition, the segment’s earnings also improved significantly: the EBIT climbed by 19.3 per cent to € 87 million (prior year: € 73 million), while the EBIT margin rose to 7.1 per cent (prior year: 6.0 percent).
For the current fiscal year 2018/2019 (June 1, 2018, to May 31, 2019), HELLA is confident the profitable growth path will continue.
The company therefore expects currency- and portfolio-adjusted sales growth, as well as an increase in the adjusted EBIT of five to ten per cent compared to the previous fiscal year.
In terms of the adjusted EBIT margin, a value roughly equalling that of last year is expected.
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