REGENSBURG (dpa-AFX) - The drive specialist Vitesco, which is about to be completely taken over by the supplier Schaeffler, was in the red last year and expects a slump in sales in 2024. The consolidated loss for 2023 amounted to 96.4 million euros, as the company announced in Regensburg on Thursday. A year earlier, Vitesco had reported a profit of 23.6 million euros. According to the information provided, the main reason for the loss was high tax charges in connection with the takeover by Schaeffler. However, as announced some time ago, the company is to pay its first dividend for the past year of 0.25 euros per share.

In the new year, turnover is likely to fall significantly from 9.2 billion euros to between 8.3 and 8.8 billion euros, it was also reported. This is due to a challenging market environment and the planned significant decline in contract manufacturing for the former parent company Continental. Vitesco CEO Andreas Wolf continues to expect the business with electric car parts to break even operationally this year. The Group's operating margin before interest, taxes and special items is therefore expected to increase from 3.7 percent to between 4.5 and 5.0 percent. Vitesco had already presented key data on business in the past year in February./men/stk