German automotive supplier Continental records steep drop in Q1 profit, sales

Source: Xinhua | 2020-05-08

Profit of Continental plummeted by more than 50 percent year-on-year to 432 million euros (about 467 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter (Q1), the German automotive supplier announced on Thursday.

Meanwhile, its Q1 sales declined by 10.9 percent to 9.8 billion euros.

"We will feel the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic even more strongly in the second quarter," warned Elmar Degenhart, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Continental. But he noted that production in China would be "stabilizing again."

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Continental had temporarily ceased production at more than 40 percent of its almost 250 locations worldwide for "a few days to several weeks."

Around 60 percent of its 240,000-odd employees were currently working reduced hours "due to the temporary production interruption and lower demand."

For 2020 as a whole, Continental is expecting sales and earnings to "fall significantly short of the previous year's figures." (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollars)