DGAP-News

Automotive Supplier paragon Exceeds Market Expectations with 10% Increase in Revenue in Third Quarter - Seite 2

Business in the premium segment, which paragon prioritizes, has substantially outperformed that of other vehicle classes. While the Chinese market has recovered with particular speed benefiting nearly all manufacturers, substantial recovery was also seen in the North America business in the third quarter, particularly for the largest customer, Porsche. Daimler anticipates continued positive momentum as well. The modified paragon automotive product mix is also continuing to have a positive effect on revenue development. New products and innovations from the Kinematics, Sensors and Digital Assistance business units in particular are driving this growth in sales. In the current situation, efficient organization and an improved cost structure are also making notable positive contributions to the earnings.

"Contrary to all prophecies of doom, paragon has performed better than nearly all other automotive suppliers. We did all of our homework on time, and now we can see that paying off," says Klaus Dieter Frers, founder and CEO of paragon. "It's making me increasingly angry when the executives of major automotive suppliers claim that the automotive industry is in a deep crisis in order to deflect attention from their own structural problems. By doing so, they discredit numerous companies with thousands of employees who are achieving healthy business development." According to Frers, the future outlook of paragon is a sign of hope, with the impact of the coronavirus now barely perceptible. Frers states that "paragon is a shining example of the fact that the 'automotive supplier' label is too narrow for a technology company."

According to preliminary figures, the Group has generated revenues of € 83.8 million in the automotive business after three quarters. With third-quarter revenues of € 33.8 million, paragon was able to realize roughly 40 % of the revenues generated to date despite the standard industry plant holidays and associated declines in revenues that take place during these months. The main growth drivers in the third quarter were the Digital Assistance (up 75%), Sensors (up 16.5%) and Kinematics (up 15%) business units. The EBITDA margin of paragon Automotive after nine months stands at 9.0 %, on par with the previous year's level despite the coronavirus-related plant closures. In the third quarter alone, paragon achieved an EBITDA margin of 12.2 %, cash flow of € 4.3 million and free cash flow of € 1.9 million in its automotive business.