Michelin (EPA:MICP) reported first-quarter sales of €6.64 billion, slightly underperforming consensus estimates by roughly 0.6%.
Shares fell marginally in Paris trading Thursday.
Automotive revenue fell by 2.3% year-on-year to €3.38 billion, slightly below the expected €3.45 billion.
Revenue from the Road Transportation segment also declined by 6% year-on-year, reaching €1.60 billion, just under the forecast of €1.62 billion. The Specialty Business segment experienced a 7.6% drop in revenue year-on-year, generating €1.67 billion versus an anticipated €1.72 billion.
Despite these setbacks, Michelin maintains its projection for total segment operating income to exceed €3.5 billion for the year, though this is slightly below the anticipated €3.62 billion. The company also continues to target an adjusted free cash flow of more than €1.5 billion, against an estimated €1.84 billion.
Overall, first-quarter sales decreased by 2.7% when adjusted for constant exchange rates. Still, sales volumes are expected to end the year within a range of -2% to 0%.
Michelin has not revised its full-year guidance for 2024.
“The miss in sales was driven by weaker volume impact of -4.1% (vs. Citi -3.5%) and price impact of -0.9% (vs. Citi -0.6%). The Mix effect at +1.6%, however, came in ahead of our estimates of +1.2% despite a challenging segment-mix as the product mix in SR1 continue to remain favorable,” analysts at Citi said in a note.
“In terms of profitability, management’s comments on the call suggest a bit more balanced H1 vs. H2 segment operating income. FY guidance is confirmed for all line-items,” they added.