TRATON (8TRA) Q3 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q3 2024 saw strong performance with unit sales up 5% year-over-year to 85,274, sales revenue rising 5% to €11.9bn, and adjusted return on sales at 9.6%, driven by International's recovery and robust South American demand.

• For the nine-month period, sales revenue grew 3% to €35.3 billion, despite a 2% decline in unit sales to 245,400 vehicles.

• Adjusted operating result increased by €332 million to €3.3 billion, with adjusted operating return on sales up 0.7 percentage points to 9.3%.

• Order intake was stable year-over-year at about 64,000 vehicles, with strong growth in South America and North America offsetting EU declines.

• Brands advanced electrification and service offerings, with Scania and MAN launching new electric trucks and International rebranding to strengthen customer solutions.

Financial highlights

• Q3 2024 earnings per share reached €1.45, up €0.05 year-over-year.

• Gross profit improved by €806 million (12%) to €7.6 billion, with gross margin up 1.7 percentage points to 21.5%.

• Net cash flow for Q3 was €1.3 billion, balancing out earlier supply issues, but declined to €1.3 billion for the nine-month period due to higher working capital and financial services receivables.

• TRATON Financial Services revenue up 16% in Q3, with return on equity reaching 10.9%.

• Net financial debt rose by €2.2 billion to €21.8 billion, driven by business expansion and investments.

Outlook and guidance

• 2024 outlook confirmed: unit sales and sales revenue expected to be -5% to +10% versus prior year, with midpoint +2.5%.

• Adjusted operating return on sales for FY 2024 guided at 8.0–9.0% for the Group and 9.0–10.0% for TRATON Operations.

• Net cash flow for TRATON Operations forecast at €2.3–2.8 billion, with capex sharply increasing and R&D costs moderately up.

• Return on equity for Financial Services expected between 7.0–10.0%.

• Market outlook: Europe and North America expected to decline mid-to-high single digits; South America to grow 5–10%.