Continental AG 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 are records.
That compares to income of 576 million euros on sales of 26 billion euros for fiscal 2010.
Based on the exchange rate on Dec. 31, 2011, Continental recorded net income of $1.6 billion on net sales of $39.5 billion for fiscal 2011. The company's income-to-sales ratio was 4%.
The company's operating income was 2.6 billion euros, up 34% from the previous year.
“In 2011, we grew nearly twice as much as the relevant markets in almost all business areas and generated a sales increase of 17% to 30.5 billion euros," says Dr. Elmar Degenhart, Continental's CEO.
"At the same time, our operating result increased twice as fast as sales to approximately 2.6 billion euros. We significantly improved our EBIT margin from 7.4% in the previous year to 8.5%.
"For the first time since 2006, all divisions were in the black again despite... the acquisition-related write-downs that will continue up to and including 2014.”
Goals for 2012
Continental aims to increase sales by more than 5% in 2012, according to Degenhart. That's assuming the following:
1. global production of cars with a total weight of up to six tons will increase from around 76 million units to approximately 77 million units; and
2. demand on Continental's key replacement tire markets in the NAFTA region and Europe will grow only slightly.
"At the same time, we aim to match the high level of the adjusted EBIT margin from 2011 in 2012 as well," he says. "In 2011, the year of the company’s 140th anniversary, we generated adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of a good 3 billion eurosand a margin of 10.1%, thus exceeding the forecast we issued at the beginning of 2010.”
The Continental board will propose a dividend of 1.5 euros per share at the annual shareholders meeting in Hanover, Germany, on April 27, 2012.
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