Carglass pulls D’Ieteren through corona crisis

D’Ieteren Group has taken a big blow from the corona crisis and the lockdown with a 41% profit loss during the first quarter of 2020. Glass specialist Belron (Carglass), owned at 54% by D’Ieteren, pulls the group through thanks to good results while D’Ieteren Auto showcases good performances for June after loosing 24% due to the pandemic.

The coronavirus crisis and lockdown have affected numerous sectors. With the economy brought to a halt, Belgian company D’Ieteren saw its profit before tax drop by 41% to 104 million euros. The group’s automotive activity dropped by 24% and Moleskine lost 42,3%. In spite of the crisis, Belron made a profit every month and even posted a record profit in June.

Pulled by glass

“It’s an absolutely fantastic result,” rejoices CEO Francis Deprez about D’Ieteren’s automotive glass subsidiary Belron. In spite of the lockdown, Carglass’ parent company managed to limit its losses to 12%.

While work dropped by 60% in April and 28 000 employees were under unemployment benefits, the adjusted operating profit remained stable at 234 million euros.

Compared to Belron, D’Ieteren Auto saw its turnover drop by 24% and its profit shrink to 35 million euros. However, June’s results are bringing sunshine in with an impressive 18% increase in sales.

According to the CEO, the forecast is similar for July and August. This sales increase thanks to good results from Volkswagen couldn’t come at a better time as D’Ieteren Auto announced a restructuring in which 211 Belgian jobs are at stake.

Hope

Thanks to good sales performances, D’Ieteren Auto even managed to increase its market share to 23,02% in Belgium. New models are also set to increase numbers, such as the new Volkswagen Aerton Shooting Brake, the ID.3, or Cupra’s PHEV Formentor.

Italian notebook producer, Moleskin – fully owned by D’Ieteren – remains the biggest concern. Sales in Europe and in China have plummeted with the lockdown. The activity has dropped by 42,3% and the company ended up with a 16-million-euros loss.