French tyre maker Michelin , shaken by the coronavirus crisis like the rest of the automotive industry, has increased its full-year targets after demand picked up more than expected, it said on Thursday.
Michelin said turnover had fallen by 15% to 15 billion euros ($17.7 billion) over the first nine months of the year, but third-quarter sales were down only 5% at 6.12 billion euros.
The company said that cost cuts would help it to achieve an expected 2020 operating profit of more than 1.6 billion euros excluding foreign exchange effects, better than an earlier estimate of 1.2 billion euros but still well below the 3 billion euros earned in 2019.
It also increased its forecast for free cash flow to more than 1.2 billion euros from a previous estimate of more than 500 million euros. Before the coronavirus crisis hit, the company’s initial target had been for 1.5 billion euros in free cash flow. ($1 = 0.8458 euros)
