HELLA publishes preliminary key figures for the second quarter of the fiscal year and adjusts company outlook for the current fiscal year due to expected lack of market recovery in the second half of the year and increasing cost burdens

Lippstadt, 29 November 2021. HELLA, the global automotive supplier, today has published certain preliminary key figures for the second fiscal quarter and adjusted the company’s outlook for the current fiscal year 2021/2022. According to preliminary figures, currency and portfolio-adjusted sales in the second fiscal quarter (1 September to 30 November 2021) declined by around 13 percent to approximately € 1.5 billion (previous year: € 1.8 billion) due to ongoing supply bottlenecks for semiconductors and other components. The preliminary adjusted EBIT margin fell to around 4.0 percent in the second quarter (previous year: 12.1 percent) as a result of rising materials and logistics costs and increased production inefficiencies due to the bottleneck situation. Based on the first half of the fiscal year (1 June to 30 November 2021), Group sales adjusted for currency and portfolio effects will thus decrease by approximately 3 percent to around € 3.0 billion (previous year: € 3.1 billion) on a preliminary basis; the adjusted EBIT margin will be approximately 5.0 percent (previous year: 8.7 percent).

 

“Despite our good order situation and market positioning, the bottlenecks in the global supply and logistics chains are having a greater impact on our sales and earnings development than expected at the beginning of the second quarter. The bottlenecks are resulting in particular in additional cost burdens, which are adversely affecting our margin development. In addition, due to the significantly higher volume of acquired customer projects, our development costs have increased significantly compared to the previous year,” says HELLA CEO Dr. Rolf Breidenbach. “The challenging market environment is impacting our Automotive segment in particular. Nevertheless, this segment continued to develop clearly better than the global automotive market, showing a significant outperformance in the first half of the year. Our two other segments, Aftermarket and Special Applications, equally showed a pleasing development and once again proved to be an additional anchor of stability.”

 

In view of the business performance to date, the expected lack of market recovery in the second half of the year, and increasing cost burdens, HELLA has further lowered its sales and earnings forecast for the current fiscal year. For the fiscal year 2021/2022 (1 June 2021 to 31 May 2022), the company now expects currency and portfolio-adjusted sales in the range of approximately € 5.9 billion to € 6.2 billion (previously adjusted: approximately € 6.0 billion to € 6.5 billion) and an EBIT margin adjusted for structural and portfolio effects of approximately 3.5 percent to 5.0 percent (previously adjusted: approximately 5.0 percent to 7.0 percent).

 

“The materials and component crisis is having a massive impact on the entire automotive sector. In our view, the lows we are experiencing have not yet come to an end. Particularly with a view to our third fiscal quarter, we see major challenges with lower production volumes as well as further increasing cost burdens,” says HELLA CEO Dr. Rolf Breidenbach. “In view of this challenging market situation, we will continue to intensify the dialogue with our suppliers and customers and pursue our proven cost management approach with all due consistency. Our basic strategic parameters remain unchanged: HELLA is in a good financial, technological, and strategic position to continue to significantly outperform the global automotive market.”

 

In light of the announcement of these preliminary key figures for the second fiscal quarter and the adjustment of the company’s outlook, an explanatory conference call for analysts and investors will be held in English on Monday, 29 November 2021, at 3:30 p.m. (CET). The final figures for the first half of the fiscal year will be published as planned on 13 January 2022.