Corona pandemic leads to decline in sales in H1/2020

As a result, sales of the automotive supplier Autoneum Management AG, Winterthur/Switzerland, fell by 32.7% in local currencies and by 36.8% in Swiss francs to CHF 730.6 million. The turnaround program for the North American sites made further progress in H1/2020 and is showing the targeted results. However, they were clearly overcompensated by the massive impact of the corona pandemic, which led to a negative EBIT of CHF -31.8 million (H1/2019: CHF 16.4 million) despite comprehensive cost flexibilization measures. The temporary plant closures at almost all customers in every region, especially in the 2nd quarter (Q2) 2020, not only led to an unprecedented market collapse, but also to a production stop at all 55 Autoneum sites. Starting in February 2020 in China and one month later in all other regions, automotive manufacturers temporarily shut down production completely. Sales development in all Business Groups outperformed the respective markets, particularly in Asia and the SAMEA (South America, Middle East and Africa) region. Autoneum has now launched "Autoneum Pure.", a comprehensive sustainability label for its products. The label recognizes new noise and heat protection technologies that demonstrate very good environmental performance throughout the entire product life cycle. It allows vehicle manufacturers to identify at a glance which products are most suitable for use in future, environmentally friendly models. Various multifunctional Autoneum technologies already meet the high standards for Autoneum Pure products, including the latest innovation Mono-Liner.