Haldex interim report, January - June 2015


Record-high operating margin
Continuous efforts to improve our cost base is the main reason for the record
-high operating margin. A positive market in North America and Europe is being
offset by a negative trend in South America and China, leaving net sales
unchanged overall. Weak cash flow due to increase in working capital.

Net sales for Q2 totaled SEK 1,290 (1,124) m, equivalent to an increase of 15%
compared with the same period of the previous year. However, net sales were
impacted by major exchange rate fluctuations. After currency adjustments, net
sales decreased by 1% in Q2. Currency-adjusted net sales were unchanged for the
first six months of the year.

Operating income for Q2 excluding one-off items amounted to SEK 137 (110) m,
which is equivalent to an operating margin of 10.6 (9.7)%. Including one-off
items, operating income was SEK 134 (103) m and the operating margin was 10.4
(9.2)%. The operating margin excluding one-off items for the first six months of
the year amounted to 9.9 (8.9)%.

The net income after tax for Q2 totaled SEK 86 (64) m and the earnings per share
for Q2 totaled SEK 1.92 (1.44). The earnings per share for the first six months
of the year came in at SEK 3.70 (2.47) per share.

Cash flow from operating activities totaled SEK -26 (116) m in Q2 and SEK -24
(119) m for the first six months of the year.

Åke Bengtsson is appointed new CFO of Haldex, starting January 1, 2016 at the
latest. Lena Nordin has been promoted to SVP Human Resources. Both will be
members of the Group management team.

Key figures for April - June 2015
(same period previous year in brackets)


  ·
Net sales, SEK m   1,290 (1,124)

  ·
Operating income, excl. one-off items, SEK m   137 (110)

  ·
Operating income, SEK m   134 (103)

  ·
Operating margin, excl. one-off items, %   10.6 (9.7)

  ·
Operating margin, %   10.4 (9.2)

  ·
Return on capital employed, excl. one-off items,%1    23.4 (18.1)

  ·
Return on capital employed,%1   14.8 (17.3)

  ·
Net income, SEK m   86 (64)

  ·
Earnings per share, SEK   1.92 (1.44)

  ·
Cash flow, operating activities, SEK m   -26 (116)

 1.
Rolling twelve months

Key figures for January - June 2015
(same period previous year in brackets)

  ·
Net sales, SEK m   2,536 (2,165)

  ·
Operating income, excl. one-off items, SEK m   252 (194)

  ·
Operating income, SEK m   248 (186)

  ·
Operating margin, excl. one-off items, %   9.9 (8.9)

  ·
Operating margin, %   9.8 (8.6)

  ·
Return on capital employed, excl. one-off items,%1    23.4 (18.1)

  ·
Return on capital employed,%1   14.8 (17.3)

  ·
Net income, SEK m   165 (112)

  ·
Earnings per share, SEK   3.70 (2.47)

  ·
Cash flow, operating activities, SEK m   -24 (119)

1) Rolling twelve months

Comment from Bo Annvik, President and CEO:

“In Q2, we delivered the highest operating margin ever since Haldex became an
independent company in 2011. We have created a stable platform over the past
years, which has given us good cost control. Our net sales were stable in Q2,
but we did not generate any growth. This is mainly a result of factors we have
the ability to influence on our own and not a deterioration in the market
situation. Profitable growth is at the top of our agenda, but if we have to
prioritize, profitability comes before growth, which Q2 is an example of.

Operational excellence

There is still room for improvement in our internal processes. The field
inspection of actuators that we initiated in North America in 2014 negatively
impacted our sales in the short term. It is also taking much time and energy
from our organization and running up inventory levels that have negatively
impacted our cash flow. However, we can see that actuator sales have increased
year-on-year, which is a good sign.

We also had delivery problems from subcontractors in China and India during the
quarter. This led to a lower production volume and we were unable to fully meet
the demand from the U.S. aftermarket.

We moved production from Germany to Hungary during the first two quarters. This
relocation is a part of the restructuring program in progress since 2013. We are
very pleased to be able to report that the relocation has gone better than
planned and the production lines are back in full production. The process has
been well-organized and we have high confidence in Hungary for the future. The
remaining part of the restructuring program is the right-sizing of the number of
employees in Germany, progressing throughout the year.

Success for disc brakes

Disc brake sales have continued to increase, making disc brakes our fastest
-growing product. We completed the second winter test of our ModulT disc brake
in Canada in Q2. This is an important milestone in the relaunch of our disc
brake in the U.S. after being outside of the market due to a patent dispute. We
will be permitted to resume active sales and marketing of disc brakes on the
U.S. market in March 2016. Two successful winter tests are a prerequisite for
success and we are now confidently moving into the next phase of the launch
process.

Health and safety

We intensified our efforts to raise safety at work over the spring. A campaign
called Safety #1 was developed late last year and has now been rolled out to all
production plants. We have a vision zero policy for accidents. Fulfilling that
policy will require a change in attitude – if you can’t do it safely, don’t do
it – and understanding of how important it is to report minor incidents, which
enables us to prevent accidents long before they occur.

Our code of conduct is another work environment aspect. We implemented a new
training program in the spring involving ethics, morals and other relevant
aspects of how we conduct ourselves in interactions with customers, suppliers
and each other. Distinguishing right from wrong is not always easy due to
differences in local customs, and so the program brought up good discussions
that helped us fine-tune our guidelines.

Management team changes

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Åke Bengtsson as the new CFO of Haldex.
Åke has a solid industry background and a winning personality which will make
him a valuable employee and member of the Group management team. I am also
pleased to welcome Lena Nordin to the Group management team. Lena started
working for us a little over a year ago and has gone from strength to strength.
She has been promoted to the position of SVP Human Resources.

Outlook for 2015

Our market position is positive overall. The number of trucks produced during
the year is expected to increase in both North America and Europe. Following a
round of tours of U.S. customers in late June, I estimate that the positive
market situation in North America will persist throughout the year, which had
been called into question previously. It is nice to see that the Indian economy
is continuing to recover. Unfortunately, the forecasts have been further
adjusted down in South America and we are getting conflicting forecasts of how
much the market has backtracked in China. However, our sales from these regions
are low, which means they will have a limited effect on our total net sales. It
is still a positive market to operate on overall, which gives us good prospects
for a solid year in 2015.”

Full interim report

The full interim report is available at http://www.haldex.com/financialreports
or at http://news.cision.com/haldex

Press and analyst meeting

Media and analysts are invited to a telephone conference at which the report
will be presented with comments by Bo Annvik, President and CEO, and Andreas
Ekberg, CFO. The presentation will also be webcasted live and you can
participate with questions by telephone.

Date & Time: Thursday July 16 at 11.00 CEST

The press conference is broadcasted at:
http://financialhearings.nu/150716/haldex/

To join the telephone conference:

Sweden: +46 8 566 426 69

UK: +44 20 342 814 33

US: +1 866 385 92 14

The webcast will also be available afterwards and you can download the Interim
report and the presentation from Haldex website:
http://www.haldex.com/financialreports
For further information visit www.haldex.com or contact:

Bo Annvik, President & CEO, 46 418 476000
Catharina Paulcén, SVP Corporate Communications, catharina.paulcen@haldex.com or
46 418-476157

Haldex AB (publ) is required to publish the above information under the Swedish
Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication
on July 16, 2015 at 07.20 am CEST.
About Haldex

With more than 100 years of intensely focused innovation, Haldex holds unrivaled
expertise in brake systems and air suspension systems for heavy trucks, trailers
and buses. We live and breathe our business delivering robust, technically
superior solutions born from deep insight into our customers’ reality. By
concentrating on our core competencies and following our strengths and passions,
we combine both the operating speed and flexibility required by the market.
Collaborative innovation is not only the essence of our products – it is also
our philosophy. Our 2,200 employees, spread on four continents, are constantly
challenging the conventional and strive to ensure that the products we deliver
create unique value for our customers and all end-users. We are listed on the
Nasdaq Stockholm Stock Exchange and have net sales of approximately 4 billion
SEK.

Pièces jointes

07154521.pdf