French auto supplier Faurecia sees higher sales in 2022

Feb 21 (Reuters) – French car parts group Faurecia (EPED.PA), which sealed its takeover of Germany’s Hella in early February, on Monday forecast a rise in annual sales, as it expects semiconductor shortages to ease from the second half of 2022.

Faurecia now sees full-year sales of 17.5 billion to 18 billion euros ($19.89 billion to $20.45 billion), up from 15.6 billion euros recorded last year.

The group said it will release full-year guidance for the combined group with Hella along with first-quarter sales figures on April 28.

“Our most exciting challenge for 2022 will be the great opportunity to combine our operations and teams with Hella to create a powerful group, which is far more than the sum of the two preexisting companies,” Faurecia CEO Patrick Koller said in a statement, adding that Forvia is now fully on track to deliver on its ambitions.

Its full-year net loss shrank to 79 million euros from a year-earlier loss of 379 million euros.

Faurecia said its 2022 forecast is based on assumption that the worldwide automotive production will recover to 78.7 million vehicles in 2022.

($1 = 0.8800 euros)

(This story corrects CEO (not CFO) in paragraph 5)

Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Olivier Sorgho; Editing by Kim Coghill and Subhranshu Sahu