BERLIN - Continental has made improving its struggling automotive sector a priority, Chief Executive Nikolai Setzer told German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche on Thursday.
The tyre and automotive parts maker reported a non-adjusted earnings margin of -8.6% for the sector in the third quarter.
That's despite an intake of orders worth more than 6 billion euros ($6.22 billion) in the third quarter alone, it said.
Excluding special effects, the sector's third quarter adjusted earnings margin beat expectations at 5.8%, and the fourth quarter is also expected to be positive, said Setzer.
However, the previously stated full-year forecast for the sector of an adjusted margin between -0.5% and 1.0% stands.
Setzer said he was not satisfied with this: "We have not yet reached our medium-term goals. That is our priority."
($1 = 0.9646 euros)