Sales are recovering further at Leoni (Nuremberg / Germany; www.leoni.com), but the cable and wiring systems manufacturer has still not emerged from losses after the first nine months of 2020. While revenues increased by a third year-on-year to EUR 3.82 bn and EBIT returned to positive territory at EUR 76m (9M 2020: EUR -217m), the bottom line was a consolidated, if only slight, loss of EUR 8m (EUR -242m).

“Leoni has continued to stabilise even under the considerably gloomier general conditions in the third quarter,” said CEO Aldo Kamper. The “considerably gloomier general conditions” include production stops at automobile manufacturers due to disrupted supply chains, just as Leoni’s own production was impaired by material bottlenecks.

Related: Dearth of raw materials burdens 2021 car production

Kamper considers the sale of the Industrial Solutions division to competitor BizLink International (Taipei / Taiwan; www.bizlinktech.com), which was agreed upon at the beginning of October, to be an important milestone on the road to financial recovery, and to be the new focus on the automotive industry, which is to take place at the beginning of 2022 (see Plasteurope.com of 11.10.2021). “Despite the successes achieved so far, we remain vigilant as the negative effects from the semiconductor crisis and the disruption of supply chains will persist and continue to challenge us,” Leoni’s CEO added.