FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German tyre and car parts maker Continental said its first-quarter sales may grow by between three and four percent as auto markets recover, despite strong headwinds from currency movements.
Excluding the negative effect of a strong euro, which shrank revenue by over 700 million euros (£574.58 million) last year, first-quarter sales growth could be as high as 8 percent in the first quarter, the company said on Thursday.
“Our business has already been encouraging at the start of the year,” Chief Executive Elmar Degenhart said at a press conference.
First-quarter adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) will be above the year-ago level of 796.2 million euros, the company said.
It reaffirmed its 2014 guidance for sales to grow by 5 percent this year to about 35 billion euros, after climbing almost 2 percent to 33.3 billion euros in 2013.
A month after buying U.S. private equity investor Carlyle Group’s Veyance Technologies for 1.4 billion euros, Continental said it planned to make further purchases to strengthen its non-automotive business.
(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; editing by Christoph Steitz and Tom Pfeiffer)
Continental sees sales growth as auto markets recover
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