Continental expects 2022 full-year sales boost, earnings dip

HANOVER, Germany—When Continental A.G. releases its full-year financial statement and annual report in March, there are a few things it expects to see.

Namely, the company's rubber-related businesses had a fairly solid year in 2022, even if some of Continental Group's overall performances fell shy of expectations. Still, sales for the overall company increased during the 12-month period, according to Continental's preliminary and unaudited results.

The global automotive supplier and rubber products maker expects 2022 sales of around $42.7 billion, falling in line with its forecast (between $41.5 billion and $43.5 billion). The adjusted EBIT margin is expected to be around 5 percent of the full year, meeting expectations of 4.7-5.7 percent.

Adjusted free cash flow, meanwhile, is expected to be close to $217 million for the full year, falling well below the expected range of $650 million to $865 million for the company.

"The main reason for the negative deviation is the lower-than-expected cash inflow, resulting in a correspondingly high level of receivables in the Continental Group," the German firm said. "Another reason is the lower-than-expected earnings in the ContiTech group sector."

Sales across the ContiTech group sector were strong throughout 2022, but the adjusted EBIT margin slipped below expectations, coming in around 4.7 percent instead of the 6-7 percent initially anticipate.

"The lower-than-expected earnings are mainly due to increased production costs, an unfavorable product mix and pandemic-related business restrictions in China," Continental said.

Sales for ContiTech during the full year should amount to around $7.15 billion, eclipsing expectations. The company's forecast assumed sales between about $6.8 billion and $7.05 billion.

The Tires group, meanwhile, performed well.

The unit expects to see sales of around $15 billion for 2022, which falls right into the company's forecast range of $14.9 billion to $15.4 billion. That boost in sales would represent an increase of about 18.6 percent over 2021.

Adjusted EBIT for the Tires group is expected to be around 13.1 percent, hitting the company's target of 12-13 percent.

European Rubber Journal contributed to this report.