Automotive supplier Faurecia (Nanterre / France; www.faurecia.com) saw net income drop by more than half in 2012. According to the final figures, earnings amounted to EUR 142m compared with EUR 371m in the previous year. CEO Yann Delabriere, who has recently been confronted with growing speculation about a possible sale of Faurecia by its controlling shareholder PSA Peugeot Citroen, attributed the decline primarily to the poor business development in Europe. Asia and the very strong North America region were unable to compensate for the decline in earnings.

Total sales in 2012 rose by a good 7% to EUR 17.36 bn, while EBIT slipped from EUR 651m to EUR 514m. In contrast, net indebtedness rose to EUR 1.8 bn (2011: EUR 1.2 bn) due to the restructuring in Europe and the start-up cost of new projects.

Faurecia reports new orders above all from North America, where product sales amounted to EUR 3.65 bn, an increase of 41% compared with the previous year. Asia posted a 24% increase in sales, taking the figure to EUR 1.39 bn. Europe remained the largest market with product sales of EUR 7.4 bn, which, in line with the drop in automotive production, was about 6% down on 2011. The company recorded a record order intake in 2012 of EUR 17.8 bn, of which Europe’s share has now fallen below 50%. The Car Seats and Automotive Exteriors business groups were heavily affected by the decline in car production in Europe. Seat sales amounted to EUR 4.9 bn (EUR 4.8 bn), a small rise of 3%, but exterior parts fared worse as sales fell by 3% to EUR 1.6 bn. The "Interior Systems" business group, on the other hand, added 17% to EUR 3.6 bn.