The final results won't be published until Thursday, May 3. But Continental AG previewed its first-quarter financial results for 2012.
First-quarter sales were up 13%, to 8.3 billion euros. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were up nearly 21%, to 766 million euros. The company did not release its net income for the quarter.
Based on the exchange rate on March 31, 2012, Continental achieved 1Q sales of nearly $11.1 billion. Its EBIT was more than $1 billion.
With a margin of 10.6%, adjusted EBIT before acquisition-related amortization and special effects amounted to roughly 875 million, up 19.2% from 734 million euros in 1Q 2011.
“The successful start to the new year makes us confident that we will comfortably achieve the goals we set ourselves for this year," says Dr. Elmar Degenhart, Continental's CEO. "We are assuming that global production of light vehicles with a total weight of up to six tons will be able to reach 79 million vehicles worldwide.”
The company's 2012 goals are to boost its sales by more than 5% -- to more than 32 billion euros -- and maintain its high adjusted EBIT margin from 2011 this year.
Continental will hold its annual shareholders’ meeting in Hanover, Germany, on Friday, May 4.
Continental posted net income of more than 1.2 billion euros on net sales of 30.5 billion euros for its fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2011. Both were records. The company's income-to-sales ratio was 4%.
