STOCKHOLM, April 26,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- (NYSE: ALV) (SSE:
ALIV.sdb)
Q1 2024: Broad based improvements
Financial highlights Q1 2024
$2,615 million net sales
5% net sales increase
5% organic sales growth*
7.4% operating margin
7.6% adjusted operating margin*
$1.52 EPS, 77% increase
$1.58 adjusted EPS*, 76%
increase
Full year 2024 guidance
Around 5% organic sales growth
Around 0% FX effect on net sales
Around 10.5% adjusted operating margin
Around $1.2
billion operating cash flow
All change figures in this release compare to the same period
of the previous year except when stated otherwise.
Key business developments in the first quarter of 2024
- Record first quarter sales, increased organically* by
5%, which was 6pp better than global LVP decline of 1% (S&P
Global April 2024). We outperformed
in all regions, mainly due to new product launches and higher
prices carried over from last year.
- Profitability improved substantially, driven mainly
by organic growth and cost reduction activities. Operating income
was $194 million and operating margin
was 7.4%. Adjusted operating income* improved from $131 million to $199
million and adjusted operating margin* increased from 5.3%
to 7.6%. Return on capital employed was 19.7% and adjusted return
on capital employed* was 20.2%.
- Strong cash flow improvement. Operating cash flow
improved by $168 million and free
cash flow* improved by $171 million.
The leverage ratio* of 1.3x was close to unchanged compared to
three months earlier and 0.3x lower than a year earlier despite
returning $0.7 billion to
shareholders as dividends and share repurchases in the last 12
months. In the quarter, a dividend of $0.68 per share was paid, and 1.37 million shares
were repurchased and retired.
*For non-U.S. GAAP measures see enclosed
reconciliation tables.
Key Figures
(Dollars in millions, except per share
data)
|
Q1 2024
|
Q1 2023
|
Change
|
Net sales
|
$2,615
|
$2,493
|
4.9 %
|
Operating
income
|
194
|
127
|
52 %
|
Adjusted operating
income1)
|
199
|
131
|
51 %
|
Operating
margin
|
7.4 %
|
5.1 %
|
2.3pp
|
Adjusted operating
margin1)
|
7.6 %
|
5.3 %
|
2.3pp
|
Earnings per
share2)
|
1.52
|
0.86
|
77 %
|
Adjusted earnings per
share1,2)
|
1.58
|
0.90
|
76 %
|
Operating cash
flow
|
$122
|
$(46)
|
n/a
|
Return on capital
employed3)
|
19.7 %
|
13.0 %
|
6.7pp
|
Adjusted return on
capital employed1,3)
|
20.2 %
|
13.4 %
|
6.8pp
|
1) Excluding effects
from capacity alignments and antitrust related matters. Non-U.S.
GAAP measure, see reconciliation table.
2) Assuming dilution when applicable and net of treasury
shares.
3) Annualized operating income and income from equity method
investments, relative to average capital employed.
|
Comments from Mikael Bratt,
President & CEO
We delivered record first quarter sales, outperforming global LVP
growth by 6pp. We outperformed in all regions, including
China despite a negative LVP mix
development with domestic Chinese OEMs growing by 17% and global
OEMs declining by 5%. It is encouraging that our sales in
India grew organically by
27%.
Sales in India are now larger than
in South Korea, accounting for
more than 4% of our global sales.
We delivered results in line with what we previously communicated,
despite LVP being 1pp below what was expected three months ago, and
we are on track to deliver on our full year outlook. We expect a
record number of product launches in 2024, despite some OEMs
changing certain vehicle model launch plans, mainly for EV
platforms.
Profitability continued to improve significantly, driven mainly by
volume growth and cost reductions. Restructuring activities are
yielding results with indirect headcount declining by around 1,000,
or by more than 5%, in the past 12 months.
Our continued focus on balance sheet efficiency is supporting our
strong performance for cash flow, cash conversion, and return
on capital employed.
I am particularly pleased with our leverage ratio of 1.3x, which
declined significantly compared to a year ago, despite returning
$0.7 billion to shareholders and
investing in footprint optimization and growth. To support future
growth, we are currently investing in increased capacity in
Vietnam, China and India.
We are facing inflationary pressure again this year and we continue
to expect compensation for what is in excess of what we can offset
through normal productivity measures. The discussions with our
customers are progressing according to plan.
As we have previously communicated, we expect the seasonality of
past years to likely continue in 2024, with a gradual improvement
throughout the year, leading to a full year adjusted operating
margin* of around 10.5%. Key drivers for the full year margin
progression are organic growth, our structural and strategic cost
reduction initiatives, and a lower call-off volatility.
The 2024 development we expect should set up a solid base towards a
continued high level of shareholder returns and our target of
around 12% adjusted operating margin*.
Inquiries: Investors and Analysts
Anders Trapp
Vice President Investor Relations
Tel +46 (0)8 5872 0671
Henrik Kaar
Director Investor Relations
Tel +46 (0)8 5872 0614
Inquiries: Media
Gabriella Etemad
Senior Vice President Communications
Tel +46 (0)70 612 6424
Autoliv, Inc. is obliged to make this information public pursuant
to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted
for publication, through the agency of the VP of Investor Relations
set out above, at 12.00 CET on April 26,
2024
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|
The full report
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SOURCE Autoliv