Despite Sales Growth, Continental’s Profit Drops Significantly

The Continental Group is reporting a turnover of 2.578 bn Euro, compared with 2.426 bn Euro for the first quarter of 2000, and EBIT figures fell from 135 to 106 million Euro.

Despite the fact that the Automotive Systems business unit showed a large increase in turnover from 749 million Euro (Q1 2000) to 879 million Euro, EBIT came down from 29 to 26 million Euro. Only ContiTech – which is up for sale – reported more or less unchanged figures. ContiTech’s turnover makes up 18.

5 per cent of the group’s turnover, but 42 per cent of the group’s EBIT comes from ContiTech. The performance of the passenger car tyre division was quite good, with a growth in sales from 588 to 636 million Euro and an EBIT rising from 36 million Euro (Q1 2000) to 46 million Euro. The situation at General Tire North America, now named Continental North America, is dire.

For the first quarter of last year, the company achieved an EBIT of 15 million Euro. For the same period this year, it reported a loss of 23 million Euro. At the moment, there are no signs of a turnaround for the tyre division in North America.