Continental AG has posted consolidated sales of nearly 12.7 billion euros ($16.4 billion) on earnings before interest and taxes of more than one billion euros ($1.29 billion) during the first half of 2010.
Sales rose by 35% over the same period in 2009.
"Continental is well on its way to emerging from the (financial) crisis stronger than before," says Continental Executive Board Chairman Dr. Elmar Degenhart.
The Hanover, Germany-based company's Rubber Group achieved sales of 4.8 billion euros ($6.2 billion) during the first six months of the year vs. sales of 3.7 billion euros ($4.8 billion) during the same period in 2009.
"In the first six months, we already felt the effect of raw material costs, which have been rising since last year. It has, however, been possible to mitigate this effect with higher sales volumes on the whole.
"In view of the development of Continental's most important sales markets, we are upping our sales forecast from at leat 5% to about 15% for 2010."
