BESSENBACH (dpa-AFX) - The commercial vehicle supplier SAF-Holland has made a solid start to the new financial year. Sales rose by 5.2 percent to 505.4 million euros in the first quarter, the SDax-listed company announced in Bessenbach on Wednesday. SAF-Holland benefited from the takeover of the Swedish brake specialist Haldex, which had not yet been included in the figures for the entire quarter in the same period last year. The company confirmed its forecast for the year.

"The figures for the first quarter of 2024 have shown very impressively how robust our business model is with our strong spare parts business and our pronounced ability to adjust costs even in a weaker market environment," said SAF-Holland CEO Alexander Geis according to the press release. Thanks to a higher share of sales in the spare parts business, the margin before interest and taxes adjusted for special effects (adjusted EBIT margin) rose to 9.6 percent after 9.0 percent in the same quarter of the previous year. The operating result (adjusted EBIT) rose by 12 percent to 48.6 million euros. On balance, SAF-Holland earned 26.5 million euros, a good third more than a year ago, also due to a lower tax rate./niw/stk