Automotive recovery helps Gestamp post strong second-quarter revenue

Spain’s Gestamp saw increased revenue in the first half of 2021 due to the recovery of the automotive market, the company says in its second-quarter report monitored by Kallanish. Gestamp is a major supplier of components to the global automotive sector.

The company says it has outperformed the market in almost all regions with the exception of Asia, which has been slightly below the market growth rate. On the other hand, the operational improvements implemented as part of Gestamp’s transformation plan enabled the company to maintain solid profitability in H1.

“Gestamp continues to follow closely the uncertainties of the automotive market around semi-conductor shortage impact but we maintain our 2021 guidance, improving it on capex to revenues ratio and net debt level,” says company executive director Francisco Riberas. “We have been working for years with specific products for electric vehicles such as the battery box. Thus, among other projects, we are leveraging the projects around ‘Next Gen’ EU funds in our commitment to the new challenges of more sustainable mobility.”

Gestamp’s H1 net revenue amounted to €4.07 billion ($4.79 billion), up 33.8% year-on-year.

In Q2 alone, net revenue was €1.96 billion, up 90.3% y-o-y. The form total, body-in-white and chassis segments together represented €1.64 billion. This strong increase resulted from a low base in Q2 2020, which was heavily impacted by Covid-19 shutting down customers’ plants across all regions.

Q2 revenue from Western Europe reached €884.6 million, up 102.4% y-o-y. This region registered a very strong y-o-y volume recovery, as it experienced the highest impact from the pandemic during the same period last year. As a result, production volume in the region increased by 93.5% versus Q2 2020. The recovery is well spread across the region, with Morocco, France and the UK having the strongest growth.

Eastern Europe revenue in Q2 increased by €132.7m to €297.6m, while in Asia it rose 6.8% to €261.6m.

Gestamp saw its activities in the Americas also rise. In North America, revenue rose by €246.9m to €416.5m, while earnings from the South American market grew by €89.6m to €107m.

The company’s Ebitda was €239.7m, up 928.3% y-o-y, and €498.1m, up 130.7% in Q2 and H1 respectively.

Todor Kirkov Bulgaria