Autoliv, the Swedish maker of airbags and safety belts, is forecasting an improvement in its operating margin for 2024. The company anticipates that supply chains will normalize, reducing order cancellations, and cost-saving initiatives will start to yield results.
In the fourth quarter, Autoliv reported a sales increase of 18% to $2.75 billion, in line with the consensus compiled by the company. However, the net profit of $227 million fell short of analysts’ forecast of $280 million.
Despite a downturn in China, sales performed well in all other regions, driven by new product launches and higher prices. Profits saw a substantial improvement, attributed to price increases, organic growth, and cost reductions.
Looking ahead to 2024, Autoliv’s Chief Executive Mikael Bratt expects the seasonality patterns of previous years to repeat. The company forecasts an adjusted operating margin of approximately 7% for the first quarter, with gradual quarterly improvements leading to a full-year adjusted operating margin of around 10.5%.
For the fourth quarter of 2023, Autoliv achieved an adjusted operating margin of 12.1%, compared to 10.0% in the previous year. The full-year margin rose from 6.8% to 8.8%.
In terms of sales growth, Autoliv projects an organic increase of approximately 5% in 2024, while global light vehicle production is expected to decline by around 1%.
