BESSENBACH (dpa-AFX) - The commercial vehicle supplier SAF-Holland intends to increase its dividend more than expected. Shareholders are to receive 85 cents per share as a direct share in profits, as the SDax-listed company announced on Thursday in Bessenbach when presenting detailed figures for the past year. The dividend is thus set to rise by 25 cents. Experts surveyed by Bloomberg had only expected a dividend of 78 cents. The company was cautious about the current year. The company had already announced preliminary figures for 2023 in mid-February.

Overall, the commercial vehicle supplier expects turnover to fall by five percent to two billion euros in 2024. Last year, revenue increased by around 35 percent to 2.1 billion euros - as already announced - mainly thanks to an acquisition. The operating result (adjusted EBIT) shot up by 62% to 202 million euros. The margin before interest and taxes adjusted for special effects amounted to 9.6 percent, compared to 8.0 percent in the previous year. In the current year, SAF expects this profitability indicator to be between 9.0 and 9.5 percent./mne/men