In the period, the company saw an operating margin of 6.6%, an EBITDA margin of 14.2% (above H1 2019) and net cash flow of €290 million (above H1 2019). There was solid order intake of €12 billion, meaning Faurecia is on track to reach the targeted €26 billion in the financial year.
“We delivered a strong performance in H1, despite two main adverse effects: the shortage of semiconductors and raw material inflation,” said Patrick Koller, CEO of Faurecia. “We are convinced that automotive production has hit a low in Q2 and should gradually rebound in the coming quarters, despite shortage of semiconductors likely to last until the end of H1 2022. In this context, we will pay strict attention to cost flexibilisation and cash generation, thus allowing deleveraging and profitable growth.”
Upgraded FY 2021 guidance
Faurecia expect sales greater than or equal to €16.5 billion and strong organic sales outperformance greater than 600bps. An operating margin of c. 7% of sales, close to pre-Covid levels is expected while net cash flow is expected to be €500 million (compared to C. €500 million previously) and net-debt-to- EBITDA ratio should be less than 1.5 times at year-end. This guidance assumes worldwide automotive production of at least 39 million vehicles in H2 and no major lockdown impacting production or retail sales in any automotive region during the period.
