Continental Back in the Black in Q1

During the three months to March 31, Continental AG achieved sales of almost six billion euros, a 1.7 billion euro year-on-year increase. At 494 million euros, the company’s reported EBIT was more than 650 million euros higher than the comparative figure for the previous year’s quarter. From this total, sales from Conti’s Rubber Group accounted for 2.2 billion of the total, and reported group EBIT was 313 million euros.

“In the first three months of 2010, our business continued to stabilise substantially,” stated Continental Executive Board chairman Dr. Elmar Degenhart during the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on April 28. “Sales and EBIT form a very firm basis for us to achieve the corporate goals we have set for 2010, although it is not yet possible to say how the European automotive industry will develop in the second half of the year.

“We can confirm the forecast we made at the beginning of the year for a minimum five per cent growth in sales. If the development on the markets continues to be as positive as it has been so far, we even have a chance of increasing sales by as much as ten per cent. At the same time, we will improve our adjusted EBIT year-over-year significantly,” Degenhart continued.

The complete report on the first quarter of 2010 will be published May 4.