By Dimitri Rhodes and Dagmarah Mackos
(Reuters) – Belgian car distributor D’Ieteren on Wednesday reported first-quarter sales of 3.06 billion euros ($3.30 billion) and flagged lower volumes for its car glass repair business in North America due to milder weather.
The group, which distributes Volkswagen (ETR:), Audi, SEAT and Škoda cars in Belgium, reported a combined turnover of 3.83 billion euros for the same period a year earlier. The numbers were not comparable because the company changed the way it reported its results.
Still, sales at Berlon, the company’s windshield repair unit and largest division, rose 5.7% organically as strong demand in Europe and other regions offset flat results in North America.
Volumes in the North American operations, which represent 55% of the division, fell as mild weather reduced demand, echoing comments earlier this month by Canadian peer Boyd Group Services.
“During the winter periods they kept technical staff to deal with capacity problems, but now they have the capacity but not the volume,” says KBC analyst Michiel Declercq.
“This could weigh a bit on profitability in the first half,” he added.
D’Ieteren reiterated its forecast, generally considered conservative by analysts, of mid- to high-single-digit percentage growth in adjusted pre-tax profits for 2024.
Aftermarket parts distributor TVH recovered from a recent cyber attack and showed strong organic growth of 12.2%.
Excluding the reversal of cyber impact, underlying volume trends are broadly flat, Declercq said.
Moleskine, the group’s luxury notebook brand, recorded an organic profit decline of 6.3%, due to the impact of inventory management on e-commerce platforms since early 2023.
D’Ieteren shares, which have risen about 14% this year, were largely flat in morning trading.
