Press release
Strong sales growth and improved operating margin
(Stockholm, April 29, 2016) – – – For the three-month period ended March 31, 2016, Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE: ALV and SSE: ALIV.Sdb) – the worldwide leader in automotive safety systems – reported consolidated sales of $2,430 million. Quarterly organic sales* grew by close to 15%. The adjusted operating margin* was 9.1% (for non-U.S. GAAP measures see enclosed reconciliation tables).
The expectation at the beginning of the quarter was for organic sales growth of “more than 10%” and an adjusted operating margin of “around 8.5%”. The higher than expected sales growth came from stronger than expected sales in most regions.
For the second quarter of 2016, the Company expects organic sales to increase by around 10% and an adjusted operating margin of around 8.5%. The expectation for the full year is now for an organic sales growth of more than 7% and an adjusted operating margin of more than 9%. Both the second quarter and full year expectations now include the recently closed joint venture with Nissin Kogyo – Autoliv-Nissin Brake Systems (ANBS).
Key Figures
For Key Figures summary table, please refer to attached file below.
Comments from Jan Carlson, Chairman, President & CEO
"Autoliv had a solid first quarter. Sales growth and operating margin both exceeded our expectations from the beginning of the quarter, operating cash flow was strong and our adjusted earnings per share grew by 17%. I am pleased with the quarter.
In Passive Safety we had solid growth across most regions and outperformed the light vehicle production. This was due to a generally positive vehicle mix coming from a combination of high Autoliv content on successful platforms and the effects from launches of new models in the second half of 2015.
We continue to experience solid growth in our business related to the current recall situation in the airbag market. This relates both to the sales of replacement inflators which is now higher than previously expected and the sustainable business we are winning.
It was a quarter with several important events for our Electronics business. In Active Safety the strong growth continued, particularly in North America and Europe. The new Mercedes E-Class, generally seen as the vehicle with the most advanced autonomous driving features in the world, was launched with a full suite of Autoliv active safety products.
Additionally, we took the important step of finalizing our joint venture with Nissin Kogyo of Japan. The new joint venture, Autoliv-Nissin Brake Systems, gives us access to the latest technology in brake systems and brake control and we look forward to introducing these new products in our portfolio to our customers around the world.
With quality as our first priority we are executing to deliver on our growth and margin expectations while integrating our new businesses into Autoliv.”
An earnings conference call will be held at 2:00 p.m. (CET) today, April 29. To follow the webcast or to obtain the pin code and phone number, please access www.autoliv.com. The conference slides will be available on our web site as soon as possible following the publication of this earnings report.