2021 GUIDANCE ADJUSTED TO REFLECT THREE MAIN IMPACTS:
NEW DOWNWARD REVISION OF AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION IN EUROPE
DIFFICULTIES TO FLEXIBILIZE AND COMPENSATE STOP-AND-GO GENERATED COSTS
ONE-OFF COSTS RELATED TO ONE PROGRAM LAUNCH ISSUES IN THE US
Faurecia adjusts its 2021 guidance as follows:
Sales of between €15bn and €15.5bn with confirmed strong organic sales outperformance of > +600bps(vs. “sales of c. €15.5bn and strong organic sales outperformance > +600bps” in the previous guidance released on September 23).
Operating margin of c. 5.5% of sales(vs. “operating margin between 6.0% to 6.2% of sales” in the previous guidance released on September 23).
Net cash flow > €300m and net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of c. 1.6x at year-end(vs. “net cash flow of c. €500m and net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio ≤ 1.5x at year-end” in the previous guidance released on September 23).
This revised guidance is based on the latest IHS Markit forecast dated November 2021 for worldwide automotive production of c. 71 million vehicles in 2021 (as usually restated by Faurecia, i.e. vehicles segment in line with CAAM for China).It assumes no major lockdown impacting production or retail sales in any automotive region during the end of the year and it is based on 2021 average currency rates of 1.20 for USD/€ and 7.73 for CNY/€.
Sales
The latest forecast for automotive production in Europe in H2, released in November by IHS Markit, posted a further reduction by c. 1 million units or 13% vs. the forecast released in September (from 7.8 million to 6.8 million vehicles).
Due to its geographic mix (highly weighted on Europe, representing c. 45% of Group sales) and customer mix in the region (the highest revisions impact Faurecia’s main customers in the region), Faurecia now expects sales in the full year to reach between €15 billion and €15.5 billion (vs. c. €15.5 billion in the previous guidance).
Strong sales outperformance in the full year is confirmed at more than 600bps (unchanged vs. the previous guidance).
Operating income
On top of the impact of lower sales on operating income, Faurecia is also facing operational challenges in the launching phase of a greenfield Seating program in Michigan (USA). These operational difficulties were already mentioned in Faurecia’s announcement of its Q3 sales on October 26 and are mainly related to the lack of qualified and stable workforce in this region. This situation, which will be fixed before the end of the year, will generate in Q4 disruptions and additional costs (mainly subcontracting and non-quality costs) that will exceed what was initially estimated.
Additionally, the continued stop-and-gos decided by OEMs, even if gradually easing as from November, reduce cost flexibilization capabilities, especially for Just-In-Time deliveries.
Faurecia now expects operating margin of c. 5.5% of sales (vs. 6.0% to 6.2% of sales in the previous guidance).
Net cash flow
The adjustment of net cash flow results from the above-mentioned impacts on operating income, thus on EBITDA, but also from working capital at year-end.
Working capital is impacted by the continued stop-and-gos decided by OEMs that prevent an as efficient inventory management as planned and by lower sales volumes in the last three months that mechanically reduce cash collection from customers before year-end.
Faurecia now expects net cash flow of more than €300 million (vs. c. €500 million in the previous guidance) and net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of c. 1.6x at year-end (vs. ≤ 1.5x at year-end in the previous guidance).
As regards 2022
Faurecia will release detailed FY2022 guidance (stand-alone) on February 21, 2022, when it announces its FY2021 results; by this date, the Hella deal should be closed or near to be closed.
A conference call for financial analysts and media will be held today at 8:00am (Paris time).
Dial-in numbers:
France: +33 (0)1 70 73 27 27
UK: +44 (0) 203 009 5710
USA: +1 917 720 0178
No access code needed.
The conference call may also be followed at the following link:
Analysts/Investors Marc MAILLET Head of Investor Relations Tel: +33 (0)1 72 36 75 70 marc.maillet@faurecia.com
Matthieu FERNANDEZ Deputy Head of Investor Relations Tel: +33 (0)6 22 02 01 54 matthieu.fernandez@faurecia.com
About Faurecia Founded in 1997, Faurecia has grown to become a major player in the global automotive industry. With 266 industrial sites, 39 R&D centers and 114,500 employees in 35 countries, Faurecia is a global leader in its four areas of business: Seating, Interiors, Clarion Electronics and Clean Mobility. Faurecia has focused its technology strategy on providing solutions for the “Cockpit of the Future” and “Sustainable Mobility”. In 2020, the Group posted sales of €14.7 billion. Faurecia is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange and included in the CAC® Next 20 Index. For more information, please visit www.faurecia.com
DISCLAIMER
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Faurecia. Such forward-looking statements represent trends or objectives and cannot be construed as constituting forecasts regarding the future Faurecia’s results or any other performance indicator. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by forward-looking words, such as "estimate," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "intend," "objective", "believe," "forecast," "foresee," "likely," "may," "should," "goal," "target," "might," "would,", “will”, "could,", "predict," "continue," "convinced," and "confident," the negative or plural of these words and other comparable terminology. Forward looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, expectations and statements regarding Faurecia's operation of its business, and the future operation, direction and success of Faurecia's business.
Although Faurecia believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous various risks, whether known or unknown, and uncertainties and other factors, all of which may be beyond the control of Faurecia and could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. For a detailed description of these risks and uncertainties and other factors, please refer to public filings made with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (“AMF”), press releases, presentations and, in particular, to those described in the section 2." Risk factors and management” of Faurecia's 2020 Universal Registration Document filed by Faurecia with the AMF on March 11th, 2021 under number D. 21-0112 (a version of which is available on www.faurecia.com).
Subject to regulatory requirements, Faurecia does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Any information relating to past performance contained herein is not a guarantee of future performance. Nothing herein should be construed as an investment recommendation or as legal, tax, investment or accounting advice.
This press release does not constitute and should not be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy Faurecia securities.
