PARIS, July 23, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Faurecia:
SALES
In million
1st HY 2001 1st HY 2002 Variation
Automotive Seating 1 839,6 1 973,7 +7,3%
Vehicle Interior 1 685,0 1 712,6 +1,6%
Exhaust Systems 1 234,2 966,0 -21,7%
Front-end 299,1 305,7 +2,2%
TOTAL 5 057,9 4 958,0 -2,0%
Consolidated sales for the first half of 2002 were 4,958.0 million, down 2.0% on the same period of 2001 including a negative currency effect of 0.5%.
The downswing is mainly linked to the fall in price of the precious metals used in catalytic converters. Excluding catalytic converters, sales for the period rose 3.5% to 4,526.8 million. At constant exchange rates, the period-on-period increase was 4.0%. This growth was achieved despite a 5.4% fall in European automobile production during the period.
The Automotive Seating business in particular performed well, achieving a 7.3% growth in the first six months of the year. Faurecia benefited from its position as supplier of seating units for several recent models - the Audi A4, the Peugeot 307, and the Toyota Yaris - and from a strong expansion of sales to General Motors, in Europe with the launch of the Opel Vectra (the first European model from the General Motors Epsilon platform) at the new Deeside plant in the United Kingdom and in North America with the Chevrolet Jimmy and the Blazer.
The sales of the other modules of the vehicle interior rose 1.6% to 1,712.6 million. This above-market rate of growth was again attributable to Faurecia's positioning as supplier of recent models, including the Renault Laguna and the VW Polo, as well as to the start-up of production for the Mercedes E class and CLK, the Nissan Primera and the Renault VelSatis. A new plant was comissioned in the first half of 2002 at Sao Bernardo do Campo in Brazil.
Exhaust Systems sales contracted by 21.7% in the first six months of the year, due to lower prices of precious metals included in the catalytic converter. Excluding catalytic converters, 2002 first half year sales dipped 2.6% to 534.8 million. At constant exchange rates, the decline was only 2.1%.
Front-end sales grew 2.2% to 305.7 million. The majority of sales by this business are with Audi and the PSA Peugeot Citroen Group.
RESULTS
In million 1st HY 2001 2d HY 2001 1st HY 2002 1st HY 2001
proforma proforma published
EBITDA 313,6 253,9 300,2 313,6
% of sales 6,2% 5,6% 6,1% 6,2%
Operating
Income 154,0 105,7 129,0 154,0
% of sales 3,0% 2,3% 2,6% 3,0%
Net income
(Group share) 7,0 (59,0) 0,6 4,5
Net income
per share
(in euro)
- before
goodwill
amortization 2,41 0,09 2,30 2,55
- after
goodwill
amortization 0,29 (2,46) 0,02 0,28
Cash flow 225,4 131,3 230,0 225,4
Capital
Expenditure 208,8 229,4 181,9 208,8
Operating income for the six months to June 30, 2002 was 129.0 million or 2.6% of sales. This was below first-half 2001 operating income, which represented 3.0% of sales, but was higher than the second-half 2001 figure of 105.7 million or 2.3% of sales.
First-half 2002 operating income was dampened by start-up costs, which remained high despite being below the 2001 level.
In addition, the commissioning of many production facilities in 2001 and 2002, to keep pace with current and future sales growth, led to an increase in fixed production costs that will be absorbed by the ramp-up of production at these sites.
Net research and development expenditure stands at 119,6 million, representing 2,4% of sales versus 2.8% in first-half 2001.
The Group's net income returned to break-even in the first half of 2002 coming to 0.6 million, compared with a pro forma net loss of 59.0 million in the second half of 2001 and pro forma net income of 7.0 million in first-half 2001. Earnings per share stood at 0.02, or 2.30 per share before goodwill amortization.
The Group's net financial debt improved compared to its level at December 31, 2001. At June 30, 2002, it was 1,644.7 million versus 1,761.3 million. The debt-to-equity ratio stood at 0.82, based on shareholders' equity at June 30, 2002 of 1,996.1 million.
OUTLOOK
In the second half of 2002, the European automotive production should record another decline of some 2 to 3%. Despite this environment, Faurecia should see its sales rise at least 5% in the second half, thus continuing its trend of outperforming the market.
Faurecia is Europe's third largest automobile equipment supplier and one of the global leaders in six major vehicle modules: seat, cockpit, door, acoustic module, exhaust and front-end. With 2001 consolidated sales of 9.6 billion, the Group has operations in 27 countries and over 50,000 employees working at 150 sites. Faurecia is listed on the French Stock Exchange in Paris.