Continental quarterly balance sheet: Conti returns to old strength

'Continental is gradually returning to its former strength,' said Conti- Boss Elmar Degenhart when presenting the quarterly figures on Wednesday (November 3rd) in Hanover.

Conti expects black numbers again

For the full year, the group expects the economic recovery and the strong tailwind Growth in Asia now with a quarterly increase in sales to more than 25 billion euros. So far, Conti had assumed a 15 percent increase in sales. The bottom line is that after the billions in losses due to the economic crisis, there should be a positive result again. In 2010, Conti expects a net result of 400 million euros - despite a high tax rate of 50 percent.

Conti is also making progress in reducing debt. Since the beginning of the year, Conti has reduced the debts from the takeover of the former Siemens division VDO by over 800 million to just under 8.1 billion euros. At the same time, Conti raised three billion euros by issuing bonds on the capital market. 'We have thus created a good and solid basis for refinancing our bank loans due in 2012,' said Degenhart.

The return on earnings before interest and taxes, especially adjusted for depreciation on the goodwill of VDO (EBIT) should now be around nine percent this year. So far, Conti had assumed eight to 8.5 percent. However, increased raw material costs, the closure of truck tire production in Hanover, further depreciation and high interest on loans and bonds should continue to burden Conti.