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Expansion of Board of Directors and higher
dividend
Based on the positive results of the 2016
financial year, the Board of Directors of
Autoneum Holding Ltd will propose to the
shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on
March 30, 2017 a dividend of CHF 6.50 per
share. Compared with the previous year this
represents an increase of CHF 2.00 per share.
The disposal of the UGN business in Chicago
Heights contributes CHF 1.00 to the dividend.
The Board of Directors will also propose
Norbert Indlekofer for election to the Board of
Directors. A German citizen, Norbert Indlekofer
has many years of experience in the auto-
mobile industry and valuable expertise in the
areas of research, development and technology.
Approval of the election proposal will expand
the Board of Directors of Autoneum Holding Ltd
from six to seven members.
Business Groups
Following a year shaped by numerous produc-
tion ramp-ups and strong growth, Business
Group Europe showed a marginal plus in net
sales of 0.8% in local currencies in 2016. Due
to currency effects, net sales in Swiss francs
remained practically unchanged on the previous
year’s level at CHF 833.4 million (2015:
CHF 833.2 million). However, EBIT was
increased by over 31% from CHF 44.7 million
to CHF 58.7 million in the reporting year. This
record result was made possible by almost
maximum utilization of production capacities
and simultaneous high material efficiency with
very low scrap rates as well as low purchasing
prices and rigorous cost control. For the first
time, the EBIT margin reached 7.0% of net
sales, surpassing the previous year’s margin
by 1.7 percentage points.
Business Group North America achieved
organic sales growth of 9.0% in 2016 and
thereby significantly outperformed the market
dynamics of this region. As in the previous
year, the supply of high-volume US and Japanese
vehicle models was crucial for the growth. The
loss of sales caused by the disposal of the UGN
business in Chicago Heights (Illinois), USA in
early 2016 was more than offset by the higher
year-on-year production volumes, above all
due to gains in market shares. Net sales in
Swiss francs rose by 4.2% to CHF 1018.7
million (2015: CHF 977.9 million) and thus for
the first time exceeded the one-billion mark.
However, investments in capacity development
and expansion weighed down on the result of
Business Group North America in 2016.
EBIT before special effects therefore fell to
CHF 85.9 million (2015: CHF 91.7 million),
which corresponds to an EBIT margin of
8.4%. EBIT after special effects rose to
CHF 119.1 million.
Business Group Asia once again reported
impressive double-digit sales growth of 20.2%
in local currencies in 2016. The primary reasons
for this were the very high production volumes
for vehicles of American and Japanese customers
as well as the increasing supply of local car
manufacturers in China. In Swiss francs, net
sales improved by 16.5% to CHF 210.7 million
(2015: CHF 180.9 million). Mainly due to
investments in resource development as well as
higher logistic and operating expenses, the
EBIT margin fell slightly to 13.1%, while EBIT
rose by over 10% to CHF 27.7 million (2015:
CHF 25.0 million) because of the significant
growth in production volumes.
In 2016, the ongoing recession in South
America, the key market of Business Group
SAMEA (South America, Middle East and Africa),
20.2%
Business Group Asia once again reported net sales growth
of more than 20% in local currencies.
8
Autoneum Annual Report 2016
Letter to Shareholders
as