Faurecia made €4,005 million in group sales in the first quarter of 2021, up 8.9% on a reported basis compared to the same period in 2020. Sales grew by 12.2% on an organic basis, with strong performance in all regions.
Seating, which accounts for 29% of group sales, grew organically by 13.6%, with particularly strong growth in China (both with international and Chinese OEMs) and sales in all other regions recorded organic growth in the mid-single digits.
Interiors, 30% of group sales, grew organically by 11.7%, with reported sales including a positive scope effect of €60 million or 5.4% of sales. This positive scope effect did not fully offset the negative currency effect of €67 million in the quarter. China and Europe drove the growth, as well as interior module assembly and logistics company SAS, which the company acquired as a joint venture with Continental in 2020 and which was up 30% on an organic basis.
The first quarter sales by region changed by 8.9% and were distributed as such: Europe up 5.4%, North America down 6.1%, Asia up 46.1% of which China was up 87.6%, South America down 11.5% and the rest of the world up 30.2%.
Full year targets
All Faurecia’s full year targets, as presented February 22, 2021, have been confirmed: sales are set to be greater than €16.5 billion. The company anticipates an operating margin of 7% of sales, close to pre-Covid levels, as well as a net cash flow of €500 million and net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of less than 1.5 times by the end of the financial year.
Patrick Koller, CEO of Faurecia, said: “In Q2, even taking into account a negative impact from the shortage of electronic components, we will deliver very strong organic sales growth and outperformance, driven by the start of production of new programs. We are fully on track to achieve all our financial targets for the year and our order intake objective.”
