Continental expects 2020 sales and earnings to be significantly below 2019 figures

Continental’s sales and profits declined significantly in the first quarter. The primary reason for this was the production stop in China due to the coronavirus and the resulting impact, a company release shows.

Sales amounted to 9.8 billion Euro in Q1, 10.9 percent lower than in the previous year. Adjusted EBIT fell to 432 million Euro and was thus about half as high as in the same period of the previous year. The adjusted EBIT margin was 4.4 percent (Q1 2019: 8.1 percent).

The second quarter is expected to be the weakest quarter of the current fiscal year for Continental with regards to sales and earnings, as this is when the impact of the coronavirus pandemic will really be felt in Europe and America.

“We will feel the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic even more strongly in the second quarter. Usually, we generate three-quarters of our sales in Europe and North America. But both regions have been hit hard by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic since the end of March, while automotive production in China is stabilizing again,” said Continental’s CEO Elmar Degenhart.