Adjusted EBIT amounted to € 148.6 million in FY 2021 (2020: € -94.5 million). The adjusted EBIT margin at 1.8 percent (2020: -1.2 percent) was slightly above the announced target range of 1.5 percent to 1.7 percent. Operating profit (EBIT) climbed to € 39.5 million (2020: € -324 million).

With a free cash flow of € 113.3 million (2020: € -455.7 million), the company reached the upper end of the projected bandwidth of € 70 to 120 million. The increase is attributable to significant operating improvements and was achieved despite higher capital expenditure.

The balance sheet of Vitesco Technologies remains very solid with an equity ratio of 36.3 percent as of December 31, 2021 (December 31, 2020: 32.9 percent). The group’s net liquidity stood at € 345.1 million at the end of the fiscal year (December 31, 2020: € 405.7 million).

Despite the challenges presented by the markets, Vitesco Technologies recorded a total order intake of € 11.2 billion in the fiscal year 2021, with electrification products contributing € 5.1 billion. The volume of new orders booked was over € 4.8 billion in the fourth quarter alone. Electrification products accounted for more than half of this volume; order intake amounted to € 2.5 billion, of which € 2.0 billion were attributable to business unit Electrification Technology. 

Vitesco Technologies was able to further expand its electrification business in the past year. Order intake for high-voltage inverters amounted to more than € 2.5 billion. Incoming orders for electric axle drives worth € 1.1 billion also contribute to the successful implementation of the company’s e-mobility strategy. Overall, Vitesco Technologies has an order backlog of more than € 51 billion, 33 percent of which is in the electrification area.

Proposed waiver of dividend 

For the year 2021, the consolidated net income attributable to shareholders came in at € ‑122.0 million. Earnings per share amounted to € ‑3.05. 

No dividend proposal will be submitted for resolution to the Annual General Meeting on May 5, 2022. In the financial year 2020 there were paid no dividends as well, as Vitesco Technologies was still part of Continental AG at that time. 

Outlook 2022: Normalization of semiconductor supply expected – consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine not yet assessable

Until now, Vitesco Technologies expected that the first half of the year would still be impacted by semiconductor supply shortages with effects on production volumes. To date, the company expects a slow normalization of the supply situation in the second half of 2022 with noticeable effects in the fourth quarter.

Vitesco Technologies expects the strongest increase in production volumes of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2022 for Europe in the range of 17 to 19 percent. According to the company's estimates, production volume in North America will increase by 15 to 17 percent, while it assumes a slight increase of 0 to 2 percent for production figures in China.

Sales and EBIT expectations above previous year’s level – Electrification business is a “growth engine”

Against the backdrop of rising production figures as well as the supporting trend toward electrification, Vitesco Technologies expects group sales in the amount of € 8.6 to 9.1 billion in fiscal year 2022. The expected reduction in sales from contract manufacturing for Continental AG and from the company’s non-core technologies have a counteracting effect.

For the 2022 adjusted EBIT-margin, Vitesco Technologies assumes a range between 2.2 percent and 2.7 percent. Anticipated additional costs resulting from semiconductor supply shortages, wage inflation as well as rising material costs are already included in this estimate. The company forecasts a burden due to special effects of around € 100 to 150 million in 2022.