BESSENBACH (dpa-AFX) - Commercial vehicle supplier SAF-Holland plans to raise its dividend more than expected. Shareholders are to receive 60 cents per share as a direct share in profits, the SDax-listed company announced in Bessenbach on Thursday when it presented detailed figures for the past year. This is expected to increase the dividend by 25 cents, or just over 70 percent. Experts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a dividend of only 50 cents. The margin and sales forecast is also above analysts' expectations.

Following the acquisition of Swedish brake manufacturer Haldex, which was completed on February 21, SAF-Holland expects sales of between EUR 1.8 billion and EUR 1.95 billion in 2023. Last year, revenues - as already known - increased by slightly more than a quarter to just under EUR 1.6 billion. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) adjusted for nonrecurring items increased by around a third to 125 million euros.

The margin based on this figure was thus 8.0 (previous year: 7.5) percent. In the current year, SAF expects this profitability indicator to be between 7.5 percent and 8.5 percent. Here, too, analysts had previously expected less./zb/stk