HANOVER, Germany — Continental A.G.'s tire operations generated 68% higher pre-tax operating income for the year ended Dec. 31 year on 16.2% higher sales, prompting management to forecast double-digit sales and earnings growth for 2022.
Conti reported operating income of $2 billion last year on sales of $14 billion, which yields an operating ratio improvement of four points to 14.4%.
For 2022, Conti management is projecting sales of between $14.8 billion and $15.3 billion with an adjusted EBIT margin of 13.5% to 14.5%
Conti cited increased replacement demand for passenger and commercial-vehicle tires for the revenue increase, with sales of larger-diameter (18 inches and above) passenger tires outpacing overall demand growth to the point that such tires now account for 44% of passenger/light truck tire sales, up from 38% in 2020 and 35% in 2019.
On a corporate basis, Conti's adjusted operating profit jumped 37.7% to $2.2 billion, or 5.6% of the sales, which were up 6% to $39.1 billion.
