NANTERRE (FRANCE) FEBRUARY 19, 2024
Sales up 14% on an organic basis, an outperformance of 430bps
• Operating margin improved by 100bps, to 5.3% of sales
• Strong net cash flow of €649m or 2.4% of sales, boosted by Manage
by Cash program
• Net debt/Adjusted EBITDA ratio significantly reduced to 2.1x at year-
end (vs. 3.1x at June 30, 2022, right after the acquisition of HELLA)
SYNERGIES WITH HELLA AHEAD OF ROADMAP
• Cumulated net cost synergies of €190m at end-2023
• Cumulated net cost synergies upgraded to > €350m at end-2025
INCREASED MOMENTUM ON DELEVERAGING, WITH CLOSE TO €1 BILLION
NET DEBT REDUCTION IN 2023
• Supported by Manage by Cash program and successful completion of
the first €1bn disposal program launched in Q2 2022
• Accelerating thanks to the second €1bn disposal program launched
in Q4 2023
STRONG AND SELECTIVE 2023 ORDER INTAKE OF €31 BILLION
• Profitability consistent with POWER25 targets, with reduced upfront
costs
• Significant awards in line with key market drivers
2024 GUIDANCE ON TRACK TO POWER 2025 AMBITION
• 2024 GUIDANCE
o Sales of between €27.5bn and €28.5bn
o Operating margin between 5.6% and 6.4% of sales
o NCF ≥ 2023 in value
o Net debt/Adjusted EBITDA ratio ≤ 1.9x at Dec. 31, 2024
• ON TRACK TO POWER 2025 AMBITION (as presented at Capital Markets
Day in November 2022)
o Sales of c. €30bn
o Operating margin > 7% of sales
o NCF of 4% sales
o Net debt/Adjusted EBITDA ratio < 1.5x at Dec. 31, 2025
2024 GUIDANCE ON TRACK TO POWER 2025 AMBITION
• 2024 GUIDANCE
o Sales of between €27.5bn and €28.5bn
o Operating margin between 5.6% and 6.4% of sales
o NCF ≥ 2023 in value
o Net debt/Adjusted EBITDA ratio ≤ 1.9x at Dec. 31, 2024
• ON TRACK TO POWER 2025 AMBITION (as presented at Capital Markets
Day in November 2022)
o Sales of c. €30bn
o Operating margin > 7% of sales
o NCF of 4% sales
o Net debt/Adjusted EBITDA ratio < 1.5x at Dec. 31, 2025
FORVIA ANNOUNCES TODAY ITS INTENTION TO LAUNCH “EU-FORWARD”, A
FIVE-YEAR PROJECT TO REINFORCE THE COMPETITIVENESS AND AGILITY OF
THE GROUP’S OPERATIONS IN EUROPE
• This project intends to adapt the Group’s manufacturing and R&D
set-up to the fast-changing European environment
• This project would allow FORVIA to:
o Achieve significantly higher profitability, exceeding 7% of
sales in EMEA in 2028 (versus 2.5% in 2023),
o Rebalance the Group’s regional mix with EMEA representing c.
40% of sales in 2028 (versus 46% in 2023) and c. 35% of
operating income (versus 22% in 2023), thus reducing the
dependency to China, while continuing to grow in this region
Patrick KOLLER, Chief Executive Officer of FORVIA, declared:
“2023 has been a contrasted year with tailwinds, such as growing worldwide
automotive production, driven by a robust demand and gradual improvement of the
supply chain, and headwinds, such as strong inflation, but also high interest rates and
adverse currency changes.
In this context, FORVIA’s performance has been solid. We delivered on our priorities.
We generated profitable growth through strong sales organic growth, outperforming
the market by 430 basis points, notably driven by market share gains in China, and
through an improvement of our operating margin by 100bps to 5.3% of sales. Synergies
with HELLA, ahead of our roadmap, contributed to this performance, and we are
confident that we can expect higher synergies than initially expected by 2025.
We delivered on our top priority: further deleveraging the company after the
acquisition of HELLA. We reduced our net debt by close to one billion euros over the
year, thanks to the combination of strong cash generation and successful completion
of the first one-billion-euro disposal program that was launched mid-2022.
We also achieved key milestones in different domains. We significantly improved
profitability in our Seating North America, Clarion Electronics and Lighting activities.
We accelerated the development of our hydrogen business by welcoming Stellantis, a
major OEM, as a new partner in Symbio and inaugurating new production units for
tanks and fuel cells. Regarding sustainability, which is core to our strategy and
innovation, we stand one year ahead of schedule on our targets for scopes 1 & 2. The
creation of Materi’Act, a company dedicated to the development of sustainable
materials, will help the Group reaching its scope 3 objective and CO2 net-zero by 2045.
Finally, we registered a strong and selective order intake of 31 billion euros, with
profitability aligned with our Power25 targets and reduced upfront costs: this reflects
the high attractiveness of our business, aligned with the industry megatrends.
Let me thank FORVIA’s teams for all efforts they have deployed to achieve this 2023
solid performance.
2024 will be another step forward on our Power25 trajectory. We will maintain strong
focus on sustainable and profitable growth and accelerate deleveraging, thanks to our
Manage by Cash program, as well as the second one-billion-euro disposal program
that is already underway. We will also make sure to stay agile and take the necessary
measures in the face of anticipated medium-term market evolution.
Today, we announced our intention to launch “EU-FORWARD”, a project that is intended
to be rolled out over the next five years to reinforce the competitiveness and agility of
our operations in Europe and achieve significantly higher profitability. This objective is
to be supported by FORVIA’s acceleration on Artificial Intelligence across the Group,
aiming at optimizing R&D investment and costs as well as Program Management, while
maintaining high level of technology and innovation. We keep building a stronger
Group, able to compete in a fast-changing environment.”
