FR Valeo SE

   By Max Bernhard 
 

European car suppliers trade lower Thursday amid a flurry of negative sector news and a gloomy outlook for the year ahead.

Suppliers have enjoyed "unparalleled revenue growth" for the past two decades, but are now faced with a global production slowdown and disruptive new technologies, said David Lesne at UBS. On top of that comes slowing demand in China, the world's biggest car market, as well increased trade tensions, uncertainty surrounding Brexit and tightening emissions rules.

"Those issues have led to a series of profit warnings, which have weighed on investor sentiment," Mr. Lesne said, adding that the market slowdown also raises the risk that car makers will put more pressure on suppliers to lower their prices.

UBS downgraded Continental AG (CON.XE) to neutral and Faurecia SA (EO.FR) to sell.

At 1502 GMT, suppliers were largely lower. Faurecia is down 6.2%, while Valeo SA (FR.FR) trades 3.5% lower. Continental and Schaeffler AG (SHA.XE) are down 3.0% and 2.9%, respectively.

In the meantime, Thursday brought negative news for the sector, with Ford Motor Co (F) and Tata Motors Ltd's (500570.BY) Jaguar Land Rover both announcing thousands of job cuts in Europe, citing some of the same reasons mentioned by UBS.

The slump in suppliers' shares also followed an interview with the chief executive of Osram Licht AG (OSR.AG), which traded 6.1% lower at 1502 GMT.

Olaf Berlien said he sees "dark clouds looming on the horizon for 2019," in an interview with German daily Augsburger Allgemeine.

Mr. Berlien said a downturn in the German auto industry was his biggest concern for 2019, adding that lower car sales in China in the last quarter had been "painful" for the company.

Write to Max Bernhard at max.bernhard@dowjones.com; @mxbernhard

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 10, 2019 10:49 ET (15:49 GMT)

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