Traton Group raises forecast for full-year 2023 following successful business performance in the first nine months

The Traton Group has delivered a strong performance in the first nine months of 2023 with significant increases in unit sales, sales revenue, operating result, and operating return on sales and is now raising its forecast for full-year 2023. The Traton Group brands increased their unit sales by 15% to 249,500 (9M 2022: 217,100) vehicles from January until the end of September 2023. The supply situation improved in the first nine months of the year, making higher production volumes possible. Sales revenue grew 20% to
€34.2 billion (9M 2022: €28.5 billion), driven by an increase in the new vehicles business across TRATON’s Scania, MAN Truck & Bus, and Navistar brands. We also benefited from a positive market and product mix, better unit price realization, and an increase in the vehicle services business.

In Europe, in particular, uncertainty with regard to economic development and a more difficult financing environment led to demand returning to normal. Acceptance of new orders in North America remained restrictive due to the very high order backlog. The earlier introduction of new emissions regulations in Brazil, in particular, slowed down customer demand. All of these also meant that the Traton Group’s incoming orders declined by 26% to 189,600 (9M 2022: 256,200) vehicles from January until the end of September. The book-to-bill ratio, or the ratio of incoming orders to unit sales, was 0.8 (9M 2022: 1.2). This meant that unit sales were higher than incoming orders. Although order backlog declined, it remains at a very high level.

At €2,695 million (9M 2022: €609 million), the Traton Group’s operating result was up €2,086 million year-on-year. TRATON almost quadrupled its operating return on sales to 7.9% (9M 2022: 2.1%) in the first nine months of the year. Adjusted operating result rose by €1,582
million to €2,929 million (9M 2022: €1,347 million). Adjusted operating return on sales was 8.6% and thus 3.9 percentage points higher than in the comparative period (9M 2022: 4.7%). The year-on-year improvement is attributable to higher production capacity utilization, the increase in vehicle deliveries, and the associated decline in fixed costs in the TRATON Operations business area. We were able to offset the significantly higher prices for energy, raw materials, and other bought-in components by introducing price measures.

Christian Levin, CEO of the Traton Group: “We have seen very positive developments in our business in the third quarter of this year, which is making us more optimistic for 2023 as a whole. Moreover, the Traton Group is taking a lot of steps to drive the transition to sustainable transportation forward. We have only recently set up TRATON Charging Solutions, a new service entity that makes it easier for truck drivers to find the best charging location for their e-trucks. The recent opening of Scania’s first battery assembly plant in Södertälje, Sweden, was another historic moment for our Company. Electric commercial vehicles are no longer a vision of the future — they are the here and now. Just look at MAN: its eTruck for long-haul transport will go on sale on October 30. Electric vehicles have long since become a part of Navistar’s lineup as well. The company’s legendary yellow school bus is not only a very safe way of getting children to school and back — it is now also an electric vehicle. And the e-Delivery truck from Volkswagen Truck & Bus is making it possible for customers like international brewery Ambev to supply its customers without damaging the environment. Our products are market-ready, and we are making sure that our factories are fit to handle the ramp-up in the production of electric vehicles. What we need now is for charging infrastructure and green energy to be expanded as soon as possible — and the full support of government authorities and policymakers.”

Dr. Michael Jackstein, CFO and CHRO of the Traton Group: “We in the Traton Group have had a very good third quarter.This is why we are now expecting adjusted operating return on sales to range between 7.5 and 8.5% for full-year 2023, having previously forecast it at 7.0 to 8.0%.The targets we set ourselves are ambitious — also because we are advancing how we are working together as a Group. Our financial services business is just one example. TRATON Financial Services is a strong Group backbone that allows us to offer tailor-made financial services to our brands and their customers. Navistar recently relaunched a service that offers customers better financing solutions for both new and used vehicles under the Navistar Financial umbrella. We want to continue our success over the rest of the year.”

Given the Traton Group’s positive business performance in the first nine months of 2023, we are raising the forecast for key performance indicators published in the 2023 Half-Year Report. We are still expecting the Traton Group’s unit sales and sales revenue to increase by 5 to 15% each. In our 2023 Half-Year Report, we forecast an adjusted operating return on sales of between 7.0 and 8.0% for the Traton Group for fiscal year 2023. We are now raising our forecast to between 7.5 and 8.5%. We now expect adjusted operating return on sales in the TRATON Operations business area to range between 8.0 and 9.0%, following the previous forecast of 7.5 to 8.5%. We are confirming the adjusted operating return on sales forecast of 13.0 to 18.0% for the TRATON Financial Services business area. For net cash flow in the TRATON Operations business area, the Traton Group’s Executive Board is raising the forecast range to between
€2.3 billion and €2.8 billion. A range of €1.8 billion to €2.3 billion was previously expected.

The Traton Group’s financial key performance indicators:

SOURCE: Traton