Continental recorded net income of 305 million euros, up 46.2 percent in Q2

Continental ended the second quarter of 2024 in line with its expectations. The company increased earnings in all three group sectors compared with the first quarter of this year.

“As announced, we improved in all group sectors compared with the first quarter. We have made significant progress in Automotive and aim to improve even further in the coming quarters. Tires achieved good results, while ContiTech also performed well despite a still weak industrial environment. In the current challenging market environment, the improvements in earnings are mainly due to the measures we have taken in the group sectors,” said Continental CEO Nikolai Setzer in Hanover on Wednesday.

In the second quarter of 2024, Continental achieved consolidated sales of 10 billion euros (Q2 2023: 10.4 billion euros, -4.1 percent). Its adjusted operating result increased to 704 million euros (Q2 2023: 501 million euros, +40.6 percent), corresponding to an adjusted EBIT margin of 7.0 percent (Q2 2023: 4.8 percent).

Net income in the second quarter amounted to 305 million euros (Q2 2023: 209 million euros, 
+46.2 percent). 

“The measures we have adopted to reduce costs and our commitment to implementing them effectively are starting to pay off and helped us to improve significantly compared with the first quarter. We will not let up in the second half of the year and will continue to work hard to achieve the financial targets we have set ourselves,” said Continental CFO Olaf Schick.

For the current fiscal year, Continental expects the production of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles to develop by -3 to -1 percent year-on-year (previously: -1 to +1 percent). This is due to in large part to the European market, where Continental forecasts a slowdown of -6 to -4 percent (previously: -3 to -1 percent). The technology company expects the North American market to develop by -1 to +2 percent (previously: 0 to +3 percent) in the tire-replacement business.

Given the expected market trends described above, Continental has adjusted its outlook for the current fiscal year. 

Continental now expects consolidated sales of around €40.0 billion to €42.5 billion (previously: around €41.0 billion to €44.0 billion) and still expects an adjusted EBIT margin of around 6.0 to 7.0 percent.

For the Automotive group sector, Continental expects sales of around €19.5 billion to €21.0 billion (previously: around €20.0 billion to €22.0 billion) and an adjusted EBIT margin of around 2.5 to 3.5 percent (previously: 3.0 percent to 4.0 percent).

For the Tires group sector, Continental now anticipates sales of around €13.5 billion to €14.5 billion (previously: around €14.0 billion to €15.0 billion) and still expects an adjusted EBIT margin of around 13.0 to 14.0 percent.

For the ContiTech group sector, Continental still expects sales of around €6.6 billion to €7.0 billion and now expects an adjusted EBIT margin of around 6.5 to 7.0 percent (previously: around 6.5 to 7.5 percent).