2023 results on track with deleveraging and Power25 objectives
• 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
- Sales of between €27.5bn and €28.5bn
- Operating margin between 5.6% and 6.4% of sales
- NCF ≥ 2023 in value
- 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)
- Sales of c. €30bn
- Operating margin > 7% of sales
- NCF of 4% sales
- 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:
- Achieve significantly higher profitability, exceeding 7% of sales in EMEA in 2028 (versus 2.5% in 2023),
- 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
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.