TRATON shares on the up: TRATON’s growth is exceeding expectations

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The group pointed out the ongoing risks from the Ukraine war, delivery bottlenecks and energy shortages and expects to sell fewer vehicles in the current year than previously assumed.

For the current year, TRATON still expects a “considerable” increase in sales, as the management announced on Thursday in Munich. Previously, there was talk of a “strong” plus. However, the targets for sales and operating margin were confirmed.

“The ongoing supply bottlenecks were exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and the effects of the zero-Covid policy in China and continued to have a negative impact on the TRATON Group’s sales,” the half-year report said. All segments are affected. Incoming orders also fell by almost four percent to 164,213 vehicles in the first half of the year. The decline was particularly sharp in the second quarter.

Sales, on the other hand, were stronger than expected by analysts: In the second quarter, they rose by around a third to 9.5 billion euros. Adjusted operating profit, on the other hand, fell by more than a third to 396 million euros. Here, the company referred to ongoing supply bottlenecks, the resulting lower capacity utilization and increased procurement prices. In addition, the war in Ukraine is causing uncertainty.

Investors were apparently able to live well with the sales forecast that was received: TRATON shares temporarily rose by 1.94 percent to EUR 14.72 via XETRA in the morning and were therefore among the better values ​​in the SDAX, the index of small and mid-caps. Since the turn of the year, the share price has fallen by around a third.

Due to the high order backlog and the limited capacities, TRATON only accepted new orders to a limited extent in the first half of the year – this also explains the lower order intake. In particular, the Scania and MAN brands took on few new orders. The maintenance business, on the other hand, developed well, increasing by 62 percent to 2.1 billion euros compared to the previous year, also thanks to the inclusion of the US truck manufacturer Navistar.

In the first half of the year, the bottom line for TRATON shareholders was a profit of EUR 690 million, twice as high as in the previous year.

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MUNICH/WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX)

Image sources: TRATON GROUP