Rába Group achieved a 66 percent increase in sales in the third quarter compared to the same period last year. Despite the challenging market environment caused by the energy price surplus, the company's consistent cost containment efforts are clearly visible. Turnover exceeded HUF 45 billion in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 38 percent at Group level. The adverse economic environment reinforces management's commitment to modernisation.
Rába has had an eventful quarter. Following the approval of the 2019 Annual General Meeting, the remaining part of Rekard Hajtómű- és Gépgyártó Kft. was acquired on 1 July 2022, after which it will continue to operate as a wholly owned Rába subsidiary included in the consolidation of the Rába Group. On 1 August 2022, the Sárvár-based commercial vehicle parts manufacturing and sales unit of Rába Járműalkatrész Kft. was reorganised into Rába Futómű Kft.
Continued inflationary pressures are creating an increasingly tense economic situation for companies in the automotive sector. Nevertheless, in the third quarter, all four of Rába's business units were able to achieve a year-on-year increase in turnover of more than 50 percent, reaching HUF 15.8 billion. All subsidiaries also contributed to the operating profit, so the operating result for the third quarter is a profit of HUF 335 million, which is HUF 714 million higher than a year earlier. The Rába Group's quarterly EBITDA result was HUF 790 million, exceeding the result of the previous year by HUF 1 005 million. The result from financial operations is mainly affected by the non-cash loan revaluation, which amounted to a loss of HUF 1 671 million in the first three quarters of the year.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, equity decreased by 0.8 percent. The equity per share was HUF 1 550 per share.
"In the third quarter of 2022, Rába Group successfully and consistently continued the implementation of the strategy defined by the Board of Directors of Rába Plc in the first half of 2021.
The vast majority of the structural and organisational changes required to increase efficiency within the Group and in the individual subsidiaries have been successfully completed. The most recent steps affecting the company structure were, on the one hand, the acquisition of the remaining 75.1 per cent of Rekard Hajtómű- és Gépgyártó Kft., after which it will continue to operate as a 100 per cent Rába subsidiary, and on the other hand, the reorganisation of the Sárvár site of Rába Járműalkatrész Kft. into Rába Futómű Kft.
The Rába Development Institute is a key element of our company's vision and strategy. Development competence is currently one of the main strengths of the Rába Group, and its management and strengthening with a special focus offers further opportunities, so we treat it as a priority.
In the third quarter of 2022, the practical implementation of the RABA Modernisation Programme 2025 started, after the preparatory and relevant board approval phases were completed.
The RÁBA Modernisation Programme 2025 includes the reorganisation of the entire production structure at the Győr headquarters, the relocation and/or repositioning of production lines in the individual production halls, and the transfer of certain activities between plant sections. It will also involve a very substantial programme of investment in machinery at all sites, modernisation of the real estate infrastructure and medium- and long-term optimisation of the group's energy use, in the latter case by developing alternative energy sources and renegotiating traditional energy supply contracts. In parallel with these changes, the Group's organisational culture has been and is being consciously renewed and improved.
The transformation, modernisation and investment measures already implemented and underway will continuously improve our efficiency, but the majority of their positive impact on operations and efficiency will be felt after the Modernisation Programme is completed, in the second half of 2024 and in 2025.
In the third quarter of 2022, the Rába Group was able to continue operating profitably under the pressure of organisational and production restructuring processes and further increasing energy prices. The validation of energy prices towards customers and the elimination of uncertainties caused by supply chains continue to tie up significant resources in the organisation, far beyond the normal business process, but we have been and will continue to manage them successfully. We have and will continue to ensure the stability of the Group, maintain tight control of costs and systematically implement the renewal of the Rába Group," said Béla Hetzmann, CEO of RÁBA Járműipari Holding Nyrt.