BERLIN — Continental expects higher auto production in the second half of the year as supply chains and semiconductor availability improve, the company said on Tuesday after reporting a heavy second-quarter loss.
The German parts supplier posted a net loss of 251 million euros ($256.05 million) for the April-June quarter hurt by lockdowns in China, supply chain issues in Europe, higher interests rates and impairment costs.
“We cannot be entirely satisfied with our current business results — even if they are as expected — but we are optimistic for the second half of the year,” Chief Financial Officer Katja Duerrfeld said in a statement.
Continental on Tuesday confirmed preliminary second-quarter results it had released on July 20, including an adjusted EBIT margin of 4.4 percent and consolidated sales of 9.4 billion euros.
It expects an adjusted EBIT margin of 4.7 to 5.7 percent on sales of 38.3 to 40.1 billion euros for the year.
Its outlook includes additional costs of about 3.5 billion euros, it said, with freight costs for standard overseas shipping in some cases eight times higher than in previous years.
In response it said it was spreading its purchasing across multiple sources, stocking higher inventory, sharing rising costs with customers and focusing its efforts on more premium products.