Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our H1 2026 results call, which I'm, as usual, presenting together with our CFO, Olivier Durand. Good morning. Good morning. Before we start, let me remind you that our 2026 and also the 2025 H1 results are presented excluding exteriors, excluding interiors, since we plan to divest from it by year-end. Here's a brief look on today's agenda. I will start with our key highlights for the first half before handing over to Olivier, who will present our financial results. I will then come back to discuss our outlook for 2026, and we will conclude the program with a Q&A session. Let's start with key takeaways from the first half. Our activities have been fully focused on the execution of the IGNITE Plan that we presented at our capital markets day in February.
Over the first half, we delivered tangible progress across all three strategic priorities. Let me start with performance. We improved our operating margin through disciplined fixed cost reduction, greater cost flexibility, and effective management of inflationary pressures. We also delivered an 18% increase in net cash flow with improved quality again. This enabled us to reduce net debt by EUR 500 million , which marks the largest semester of organic debt reduction since the Hella acquisition in 2022. Order intake was equally strong, increasing by 15% year-over-year. When we move to transformation. First of all, let's talk about the Interiors divestiture. Here, we made good progress toward the completion of the sale of the business to Apollo. Several important milestones have already been achieved, including U.S., European, French antitrust clearances, and the completion of the consultation process with the European Works Council.
We remain on track to complete the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2026 on metrics that are fully consistent with those presented at signing. Under transformation, innovation also remained a key focus. We held dedicated technology sessions organized across businesses and regions. These events are great motivators for our teams to accelerate innovation and strengthen cross-functional collaboration. As a result, we advance our technology roadmap with many market-relevant innovations across the entire portfolio. Let's talk about the Lighting business next. All of our business groups improved their performance in H1 except for Lighting. Hella management pushes the Lighting transformation program really hard with determination and has taken decisive actions to improve both profitability and growth. Last not least, we have started leveraging our industrial know-how and advanced technologies to pursue selected defense-related activities. I'll be getting back to those in a minute.
Finally, the third pillar, our culture. This is one of the topics that I'm personally paying close attention to since culture drives ultimate performance orientation into the group. We continue to roll out our guide, empower, and recognize principles across the organization. Project SIMPLIFY is delivering results right now. In a first step, the organizational structures were streamlined, and now the focus is on process optimization. Through our business transformation studio, we automate processes and deploy AI, particularly in engineering and purchasing, and in supply chain management. In summary, we create less bureaucracy, faster execution, and much better ownership with the leaders and the teams. Here comes the resulting performance from H1. In fact, the results from half one mark our third consecutive half year of improved performance. With this, we are firmly on track to deliver our full year guidance.
Sales reached EUR 10.8 billion at constant exchange rate, placing us in the upper half of the guidance range. Margin improved by 30 basis points to 6%, net cash flow is also increased, now reaching 4.1% of sales, while leverage continued to decrease organically to 1.6 x. Automotive production declined by 1% globally, and we mitigated rising inflation under increasing geopolitical tensions. Here, I would really like to thank the global FORVIA team who delivered despite a challenging environment. Thank you very much for that. What's driving the performance? Actually, we continue to benefit from improvements across our operations, and this is reflected both in our operational metrics and in recognitions which we received from our customers. We made significant progress in deploying the FORVIA Excellence System across our industrial footprint and also by increasing the convergence with Hella.
The number of FES focus plants was reduced by 18% in six months. Those are the plants that we want to uplift in performance, in FES performance very consciously. These remaining plants are being closely monitored and expected to improve rapidly. The progress becomes particularly visible in North America, a region that caused concern in prior years, and you remember that. Right now, launches are being delivered flawlessly, and General Motors alone rewarded eight of our sites in North America with Quality Excellence Awards. All global efforts contributed to a 33% reduction in customer claims versus prior year. That's a significant improvement in our delivered quality. I'm happy to share that our operational excellence and innovation capabilities were recognized by a number of key customer awards.
General Motors recognized the creativity of our electronics team, Ford, our excellent collaboration, and in China, Geely and Chery both appreciated FORVIA's outstanding innovations. These recognitions underline FORVIA's strong positioning for further growth. We are now getting to the lighting transformation program. Hella Lighting continues to rely on its tech leadership and a full product range. However, the financial results in H1 mark the bottom with an operating income of 0.3%. This is driven by an organic sales decline of 4.7% in H1, which continued the trend that we have seen since H2 2024. The transformation program is key, and it is currently being accelerated with a clear priority on improving the bottom line while building sales momentum. We enhance competitiveness by adjusting our R&D and manufacturing capacities by an enhanced implementation of the FES and CapEx and working capital both follow new targets.
Last not least, through SIMPLIFY, SG&A will be driven based on a benchmark. The actions currently underway will begin to deliver tangible benefits in the second half of 2026. Looking ahead, our committed goal is to progressively recover our 2025 operating margin by 2028. This, by the way, is fully consistent with the overall 7% margin ambition for the value cluster that we outlined at our capital markets day. In parallel, we are step by step rebuilding a stronger pipeline of business by being more present in the mass market and diversifying our regional reach. Our efforts have started paying off with an order intake in H1 twice as large as in H1 last year. There is significant share with volume customers as well as with customers outside of Europe.
The expected acceleration in sales from 2028 onwards should provide a strong operating leverage effect, supporting a further improvement in operating margin. The challenges are very well understood. The action plans are underway, and I can assure you that the turnaround of lighting is at the very top of my priorities. Let me now turn to order intake, one of the very good results of the first half and a strong indicator of the growth opportunities ahead of us. Order intake reached EUR 13.4 billion. That's without the interior orders. It is up 15% versus the first half of last year. This performance reflects the strength of our position in the growth areas identified at our Capital Markets Day. In fact, our growth cluster accounted for 60% of total order intake and delivered a strong book-to-bill ratio of globally 1.5 x.
In seating, the most notable highlight is that half of order intake comes from conquest business. This reflects the strength of our offering and our ability to win market share. We also continue to make significant progress with Chinese OEMs, which accounted for 27% of the seating awards. In electronics, we secured significant awards in fast-growing technologies, including around EUR 1 billion in energy management, software-defined vehicles, and in-cabin experience solutions. A major European contract for our interior monitoring systems is worthwhile mentioning. At group level, we progress well on diversification. 30% of total order intake during the first half is with Chinese customers, Japanese customers, Korean customers, commercial vehicle, and specifically also India. In India, our order intake reached EUR 600 million compared with H1 2026 sales of EUR 235 million. You can see the growth.
Most notably, we secured our first complete seat business, which will support the construction of a new just-in-time seating plant in India. The start of production is planned for 2027. This will bring our industrial footprint in the country to 10 plants, and with about 2,500 engineers based in India, we are dedicating part of this talent pool to support the further strong growth expected in the country. Let's go to China. Beyond the seating wins that I already mentioned, we continued to make strong progress with Chinese OEMs. They represented 17% of total order intake, corresponding to a 3x book-to-bill ratio. More than 70% of our Chinese order intake came from Chinese OEMs. That's fully reflecting the shift of the Chinese market, where they now account for a similar share of vehicle production.
Notable wins were attained with Chery, Changan, Leapmotor, a new fast-growing EV tech player, and our long-standing partner, BYD. You can see how we further diversify our Chinese customer base. Overall, the quantity and quality of our order intake gives us confidence in the future growth of our business. Building on additional wins already secured in July, we are confident in our ability to sustain strong order intake momentum across the year. What's driving the growth? Let me turn to innovation, and that remains at the heart of our strategy, and again, that's a key growth driver. Across our pursued trends of electrification, in-cabin experience, and safety and comfort, we continue to develop technologies that address major transformations shaping the industry. In electrification, we will start production of our first integrated 12-V lithium-ion battery pack next year.
This solution reduces weight, it simplifies vehicle integration, and has already won significant businesses with several international OEMs. We are also expanding our portfolio for extended range electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles as well, with a new adaptive valve. This valve in the exhaust system reduces the weight of the entire system, it creates space for additional battery capacity, and it particularly reduces the muffler volume and therefore also the cost of the system. Moving to the next column here. In our in-cabin experience, Appning, our apps market that combines third-party apps, vehicle functions, and location-based services, now provides drivers the benefits of an AI assistant for seamless interaction with that infotainment system and the vehicle in general. Next one. In safety and comfort, we will soon launch our transformer seat for Chinese OEMs.
Remember, that's our AI-powered adjustment where, Olivier, you get your setting when you enter the car, I get mine. They're slightly different, and also the seat adjusts during driving situations, depending if you are more sporty or more relaxed in using the vehicle. Last not least, in lighting, we successfully launched our highly adaptive high-definition lighting solutions in China. The product's performance and the cost have both been tailored to the fast-moving Chinese market. Altogether, these innovations demonstrate our ability to anticipate market trends. We clearly bring differentiating technologies to production, which will support our future growth. In general, our strategy remains unchanged. First, we focus on strengthening our core businesses. Second, we selectively expand into adjacent markets. Defense is one of these opportunities for FORVIA.
Through FORVIA HELLA, we already have long-term experience in delivering lighting and electronics products into the defense market. This gives us a deep understanding of the ecosystem and its processes. Now we can create value in two dimensions. On the one hand, through our industrial know-how and available capacities. On the other hand, through our technology and products. On the industrial side, we benefit from a strong Franco-German footprint, which is fully aligned with European sovereignty ambitions and two strong marketplaces. On the technology side, you can easily see how actuators, sensors, energy management systems qualify for emerging applications just as drones. Just think about the low-voltage battery pack we discussed before. This is a lithium voltage pack up to 50 V, and these will be produced in volume for automotive and can then power drones in the same good way.
Therefore, our recently announced drone partnership marks an important step. From assembling first drones now, we are exploring the entire opportunity. Next to the assembly and component supply, the defense sector also offers opportunities to adjust our capacities. The Augsburg plant in Germany is being transferred to General Dynamics, which is a good illustration of that adjustment of capacities. We can offer 300 employees a new perspective, this preserves employment, it avoids restructuring costs, and supports long-term industrial activity. You can see how we take a disciplined approach to diversification. It is about new markets, it's about new customers, and the same FORVIA capabilities. Moving on to culture. As I said at our Capital Markets Day, delivering IGNITE is not only about strategy. It is also about culture, leadership, and the way we work. During the first half, we continued to build momentum.
We engaged more than 6,000 managers worldwide behind our IGNITE ambitions and priorities. That was a massive communications and leadership task. Also, we trained our managers on GER: Guide, Empower, and Recognize. This is our new leadership framework that represents a significant departure from our previous top-down management approach. We are building a culture of performance through empowerment and accountability. A very good example for that is our Saline facility in Michigan. You know about that place, because in prior years, the plant had caused significant losses when launching new products. The plant has now returned to decent profitability. Certainly, the group provided support to that recovery. However, in the end, it was not all the help we parachuted in that created the turnaround. It was the strengthened and empowered local leadership team that managed the breakthrough. Another area of continued focus has been safety.
I'm pleased to report further very significant progress. Our accident rate decreased by 37% to reach 0.89 in FR1T, our metric. We are now already in line with our midterm target of an accident rate below one, as presented at our Capital Markets Day. Last not least on culture, we also took a very strong start into the year giving back to our communities. Through the FORVIA Solidarity Days, more than 16,000 employees engaged in over 560 local initiatives around the world. I have to say, 18 months into building a new FORVIA culture, I'm truly encouraged by the progress and the engagement I see across the organization and across the globe. To sum it up, in the first half, we made solid progress in executing in our IGNITE roadmap, which is built around two consecutive phases, focus and strengthen, and lead and grow.
Being in the middle of phase 1, we delivered further improvement of our financial performance. The Interiors divestiture is on track for Q4, and our cultural transformation is gaining momentum across the group. At the same time, some of these results already prepare us well for phase 2. Order intake increased significantly, supporting our ambition to accelerate growth in the years ahead. Our innovation roadmap continues to differentiate FORVIA in the most attractive market segments. We have opened up new growth opportunities also in the defense sector for several of our activities. Overall, these achievements reinforce our confidence in our ability to deliver on our 2026 objectives and to create long-term value. With that, Olivier, I would like to hand over to you for more detail on the H1 results.
Thank you, Martin, good morning. Good morning, everyone. As communicated at our Capital Markets Day at the beginning of the year, our segment reporting is now built around six activities, which are structured on Growth Cluster and Value Cluster. In this context, electronics is now reported separately with HELLA Electronics included in the Growth Cluster, while Clarion is part of the Value Cluster. Let me remind you the principle of the two clusters. Growth Cluster is focusing on accelerating growth, strengthening technological leadership, diversifying customers and partnerships, and supporting disciplined investment. The Value Cluster is focused on operational performance, cash generation, and value creation. Let me start the financial presentation with the sales and the operating margin. Once again, we delivered a meaningful step-up in profitability despite a challenging market environment. The reported sales amounted to EUR 10.5 billion, down 4.3% versus H1 2025.
On an organic basis, i.e., excluding foreign exchange variances, sales declined by 1.9%, slightly below global automotive production, which was down 1% in the period. In this context of soft sales, we increased operating income to EUR 632 million and delivered an operating margin of 6%, up 30 basic points year on year. This is fully in line with our guidance range for the year. This performance reflects, first of all, strong operational execution. It shows also that the productivity initiative and disciplined fixed cost management from EU-FORWARD and the rapid rollout of our SIMPLIFY programs are paying off. The residual impact of inflationary pressures related to Middle East conflict was limited in the period. In short, in a challenging market context, we maintain our strong cost discipline to further improve our operating profit performance.
Let me go now on the regional performance for more details in sales and margin results. Overall, we delivered solid performances in the Americas and in Europe, while we continue to demonstrate resilience in China despite a reduced level of activity. As in the first quarter, North America and Europe continued to outperform underlying automotive production and delivered growth despite a soft demand environment. This was driven by electronics, Clarion, and Clean Mobility. In China, performance remained impacted by customer mix effect, particularly with BYD. In the rest of Asia, however, we continue to deliver strong growth, and we have significantly outperformed the markets in those countries. If I turn to profitability, the regional picture is encouraging. In North America, operating margin increased sharply to 7.1%, up 170 basis points year on year. This improvement was driven by stronger operational performance and by Clean Mobility activity.
In Europe, the margin improved to 3.7%. It reflects the continued benefit of EU-FORWARD rollout, as well as the ongoing challenges in Lighting. In Asia, margins remain at a very robust level of 9.8%, which is up 20 basis points year on year. This reflects the continued improvement in the rest of Asia, combined with highly effective cost flexibilization measures in China. As a result, the group regional profit contribution has become more balanced compared to the past. We have a resilient model in China, further upside in Europe, and sustainable improvement in North America. Let me turn now to the performance by the respective clusters. I will start with the growth clusters. There, sales were down 4.8% organically to EUR 5.5 billion, with strong growth in electronics more than offset by softer sales in seating.
Electronics continued to benefit from solid demand in radar and energy management, while seating was impacted by the significant unfavorable customer mix in China that we mentioned before. When we look ahead, commercial momentum is remaining strong. Order intake is reaching EUR 8 billion in this cluster, and it represents a book-to-bill ratio of 1.5 x, which provide good visibility on the future growth. Operating margin in the cluster improved by 20 basis points to 6.1%. This was driven by disciplined R&D spending in electronics on the one hand, and stronger operational execution in Europe and in North America, as well as the continued cost flexibility measures in China in seating on the other hand. Overall, the growth cluster demonstrated its ability to improve profitability while building the solid foundation for the future growth.
Now I turn to the value cluster, where we are pleased to report another solid performance, both in terms of sales and in terms of profitability. The sales grew 1.5% organically, driven by strong momentum at Clarion, particularly with Japanese OEM, and a mid-single-digit growth at Lifecycle Solutions. Clean Mobility was roughly stable, building on our strong momentum in North America. These positive trends have been partly compensated by the expected evolution in lighting, which reflect the program phase-out in this business. The cluster also delivered a strong profitability performance, with operating margin improving by 60 basis points to 6%. Expansion was primarily driven by Clean Mobility, supported by cost reduction initiatives, while Lifecycle Solutions and Clarion benefited from favorable volumes and mix. Lighting remains a key area of attention, and we are fully focused on executing the transformation plan that Martin presented earlier.
Let me cover now the rest of the income statement. The net income group share is reaching breakeven at EUR 3 million in H1 2026. This is a significant improvement compared to the loss of EUR 269 million that we recorded a year ago. This progress is driven by solid operating income, lower restructuring costs that peaked in 2025, lower financing costs reflecting the reduction in gross debt. It is also worth recalling that last year, first half result was heavily impacted by the non-recurring charge of EUR 136 million related to Symbio. When I look forward to H2, as communicated during our presentation of the 2025 results, the divestiture of Interiors is expected to trigger a one-off charge at closing of around EUR 150 million in H2.
This is related to taxes at closing on capital gains in certain jurisdiction and the recycling of cumulative currency translation reserve to the P&L. Let me highlight that the cash-out of this charge are already priced in the metrics of the transaction that we previously communicated and that we confirm. While reported net income is expected to be negative in the second half, including due to the one-off item that I just mentioned, the underlying trajectory continues to improve. Let me cover now the net cash flow. We delivered a strong and high-quality net cash flow in the period. It is up 18% year-on-year to EUR 432 million, representing 4.1% of sales. Important to mention, working capital and factoring had a limited impact in those results.
Actually, the recurring net cash flow, which exclude working capital movement, exclude factoring and other operating item, stood at EUR 403 million, 3.8% of sales, up 70 basis points year-on-year. This performance was supported by strong underlying profitability, EBITDA increasing by 40 basis points, and low level of investment. Related to investment ratio, it was at a low level of 4.8% of sales. We expect some catch up in the second half. This is reflecting both the normal phasing of our investment and one specific transaction that I will comment in a minute. We anyway expect that the full-year investment ratio to be between 6%-6.5% of sales, i.e., broadly in line with last year. Net cash flow also reflect a EUR 62 million increase in restructuring cash out.
We mentioned before the restructuring cash out is expected to peak in 2026 at around EUR 300 million before progressively declining thereafter, and we confirm that. Overall, this is a robust and sustainable cash flow performance, demonstrating stronger cash conversion and a growing quality of our earnings. For the second half, we expect the net cash flow to remain of good quality, but I would like to mention two clearly identified one-off cash outflow. The first one is the exercise of a purchase option on a major manufacturing facility in Mexico, which will temporarily increase the CapEx, but vice versa, reduce our lease liabilities. The second one is the settlement of some past historical tax litigation, which will increase temporarily the cash tax payments. Together, those two non-recurring items are expected to represent approximately EUR 150 million of cash outflows in the second half 2026.
Those one-offs are fully reflected and integrated in our confirmed net cash flow guidance of at least 3% of sales for the year 2026. I will comment now the net debt, sorry, and leverage on a pre-IFRS 5 basis since the Interior transaction is not yet closed. During the first half, we reduced the net debt by EUR 503 million. The net debt went down from EUR 6 billion- EUR 5.5 billion. As already highlighted by Martin, this represent the strongest semester of organic net debt reduction since the acquisition of Hella. The reduction was driven by EUR 579 million of net cash flow generation when we combine continuing operation and the Interior business.
A consequence, the leverage continued to improve, we went down from 1.7 x to 1.6x , keeping us firmly on track to achieve our year-end guidance of 1.5 x at the end of 2026. Looking ahead, we expect the Interiors transaction to close during the fourth quarter. Upon completion, we confirm that the transaction should generate more than EUR 1 billion of additional net debt reduction, providing a further step change in our balance sheet strengthening. In other words, we are already delivering meaningful deleveraging organically, and the closing of Interior divestiture will provide an additional and significant net debt reduction in the second half. Let me conclude this financial presentation with our debt profile. Financial flexibility continued to improve across the board. FORVIA has reimbursed around EUR 850 million debt maturities since the start of the year, including the repayment of the EUR 428 million Schuldschein in July.
Having now cleared virtually all 2026 maturities, our stronger cash flow generation profile and the expected proceeds from the Interior divestiture give strong visibility on our debt management. Liquidity has also been significantly strengthened through the successful renewal of the FORVIA revolving credit facility of EUR 1.5 billion, which is now maturing in 2031, with the extension option of up to two additional years. On a pro forma basis, end of July, gross cash amounted to EUR 4 billion. On the credit side, let me recall that those recent progresses, as well as the announcement of the sale of Interiors, have led to both Fitch and S&P to improve their rating outlook in the course of the first half. Overall, the first half demonstrate FORVIA's ability to improve profitability, strengthen cash generation, and continue deleveraging and debt reduction even in a challenging market backdrop.
With that, I hand over to Martin for the Outlook 2026.
Olivier, thanks a lot. Let's go over that outlook. The market environment is expected to remain challenging, with global automotive production projected to decline by around 3% in H2 compared with the second half of last year. That's happening across all major regions. Based on our H1 sales performance and our current assumptions for the second half, we expect full-year sales to be in the upper half of our guidance range. That said, we remain cautious given the uncertainty that continue to affect the market, including geopolitical tensions, developments in China, and the broader inflationary environment. In this context, our priorities are very clear. First, we will continue to maintain strict cost discipline and ensure that inflation is offset through operational actions and commercial recoveries. Second, we will remain focused on cash generation. Third, we are fully mobilized to close the Interiors transaction in the fourth quarter.
Finally, we intend to build on the strong commercial momentum achieved in the first half and maintain a robust order intake pipeline to support future growth. Overall, while the market backdrop remains challenging, we are confident in our ability to continue executing with discipline and to deliver to our commitments. Therefore, our 2026 guidance is fully confirmed. Sales is expected to be between EUR 20 billion and EUR 21 billion at constant exchange rate. Operating margin between 6% and 6.5%. Net cash flow at least 3%, and the leverage ratio down to 1.5 x. With this, I would like to thank you for your attention, now we are happy to take your questions.
We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their telephone. You will hear a tone to confirm that you have entered the queue. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. Please ask a maximum of three questions. The first question comes from the line of Michael Foundoukidis from ODDO BHF. Please go ahead.
Hello, Mike Foundoukidis, ODDO BHF. Congrats for the results. Three questions on my side. First one on North America. Margin was very strong at 7%, which is a level I'm not even sure that you ever reached. Olivier, you frame the performance in your comments as sustainable. Would you consider this 7%+ level as a new normalized ambition going forward in the region? That's the first question. Second question is more on H2 margin. Usually, and given the restructuring going on, it's better in H2 versus H1. You have raw mats, you have other probably headwinds in H2 with production, et cetera. Could you give us some color on the put and takes for H2 margin, and if we should improve sequentially better H2 versus H1?
Last question is more long term and more for Martin probably, following the Interior disposals, what will be the next capital allocation priority after the leveraging? Thank you.
It's a good set. Very comprehensive set, Mike. Morning. Let's get started. North American margin very strong. Is that sustainable? Here I'm happy to report, yes, it's really the operational performance that you see in the margin. No special effects that would have boosted in H1. It goes back to what I said. We have really stabilized the operations, and in that sense, looking forward, we want to enjoy that same level of profitability from the North American region. Maybe in short H2 margin expectations. We expect them to be at least as good as in H1, and maybe you want to give it some color, Olivier.
In terms of raw material, the raw material, of course, the price increase, they are related to inflation. We anticipate, in fact, that the impact of the inflation is higher in H2 than in H1.
We expect also that our compensation measures internally as well as pass-through unable to have an impact fairly similar in absolute term between H1 and H2. On the activity itself, you see that in the first half, we are on a fairly good trajectory compared to our guidance, and we expect that to remain under the current conditions. Of course, we are very careful in this matter given the uncertainties in the China market and I would say the volatility related to the Middle East geopolitics.
Good. We get to question number three. How about capital allocations beyond the Interior disposals? Let's quickly reflect where we are in the journey. We stay by the guidance of 1.5 x leverage by year-end, and that is including the divestiture of Interior.
When you recall our IGNITE strategy, we said by 2028, we want to get the leverage down to 1.2 x. That is the target point by which we will become a much more normal company in the sense that we can qualify back to investment grade and have also the freedom to allocate capital not only to deleveraging, but also we want to invest into further growth and consider our investors, our shareholders in terms of capital allocation. The board, the management are committed to thinking of investors and thinking of instruments like dividends and share buybacks once we reach that level of leverage that I just described. Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Christoph Laskawi from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I'd like to start on an announcement of VW from last Friday, where they essentially said that they want to reduce the variants of their vehicles quite substantially and also the component variants within them. They called out, essentially in the mass market side, seat main modules to be reduced by 30%, and in the premium side, the seat variety to be cut by 90%. Just wondering, given it's one of your biggest customers, how you think this would impact your business. Is it helpful given your broad offering, or would it make the RFQs way more competitive? Then secondly, just on China, obviously, significant underperformance. At the same time, the margins are pretty stable. Could you share a bit more detail on how you manage that on the margin side and when we could expect the underperformance to improve again?
Thank you.
Good morning, Christoph. Thanks for those two questions. Let me start with Volkswagen's announcement to reduce the variants both for vehicles and components. We welcome that. We applaud that step because overall, it takes complexity out of the system that we have faced as suppliers, and that is definitely impacting the competitiveness of the Volkswagen product and therefore our sales ultimately as well. We fully appreciate that trend, and we feel that we are very ready to compete in that space. If I just look at our growth cluster, electronics and seating, we have shown good strength again this first half in acquiring new business. What's really outstanding, for instance, on the seating side, is that we have quite a high share in conquest business that's proving the competitiveness. We'll go after these big chunks of business, and I'm confident we'll be successful.
The second one, in terms of China underperformance, you read that well. We have still a setback from our exposure to BYD that has been weak in the last couple of quarters. The good news is BYD is starting to catch up again. It's stabilizing. Nevertheless, we see that in the sales result, and you also well observed that we could sustain margin. That goes back to really very strict cost management, where the local team in China flexed our internal cost and where we work very diligently also with our supply base to make sure we can deliver the same margins under these reduced capacities that we need. Going forward, you heard about our order intake. It's strong. It's strong in China. 17% of our global order intake going into China and also with a diversified customer base.
If we take the typical lead time of 1- 1.5 years, you can see how this new sales is going to boost our top line in China. We remain fully committed to the regions, to our Chinese customers, and want to serve them in China and in the world, and we will see that in the sales curve swinging back as well.
Thank you.
I have a question from the line of José Asumendi from JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you very much. A few questions, please. Can you comment on how do you manage to maintain such strong earnings seen in Asia with the decline in revenues? That was, I think, very impressive in terms of how you managed to hold up margins there. Second, can you comment on the key elements of self-help and cost savings you plan to book in the second half of the year on a group level? Three, can you comment on Seating? Which are the key maybe actions to improve the profitability beyond the current levels? Thank you.
All right, José, good morning. Let's start with the maintained margin in Asia. I commented already on our activities to flex our cost to work the entire cost base in China. To add, our local to local helps very much in that context. Remember, we are deeply localized in the Chinese market, and the pressures that we can, of course, feel from the OEM side are completely transferred also on the supply side. We stay in shape and we maintain our margin. The rest of Asia is at good profitability, too, so that adds to that overall published number. Number two, cost savings to be planned for H2. The good news is that we have quite a number of initiatives that have been running and have been running over the semesters.
If we go back two years, we started EU-FORWARD, and we have taken another lift up in EU-FORWARD savings. End of the last year, we shared a number of 6,400 agreed departures from FORVIA. That number has now gone up to 7,300 by the end of H1 2026. That's still the parameter including Interiors. You can see how that concurrently increases the savings from the restructuring. Large program number two, SIMPLIFY. We had predicted 40% of the EUR 110 million savings to be effective in 2026. That's also happening. Overall, from these programs, we can look at EUR 110 million, roundabout, of savings in the entire year 2026. That boosts H2. It comes to really short-term adjustments. We stay cautious about the volumes in the market, and we are ready to react and to flex on all cost levers.
Let me tell you one thing. Here, our cultural transformation really plays in nicely. The empowerment, the delegation of responsibility in the organization shows real effect, because not every action has to be directed from the top of the house, but it is happening as we speak in the plants where the profitability is really ensured. Question three , Seating actions for profitability. Here you also see from the results that Seating has very well accommodated the sales weakness with China customers and has stood by its profitability of before. Also here, fantastic flexing taking place, and we are going to continue that in the year. Our focus for Seating, sure, we want to maintain profitability, but our focus clearly goes in the direction of growth.
Here, diversification of the customer base, moving into commercial vehicles also, geographical expansion in India with that first full seat business now and a new plant in India. That's the key orientation for Seating. That makes perfect sense because Seating is part of our growth cluster, we want to boost that direction.
[inaudible] In the light of all the self-help cost savings, price recoveries, in the second half of the year, I know the market outlook still is very uncertain, is there not a chance to potentially upgrade the guidance in the second half of the year?
When you look at our guidance, we see that sales is going to be in the upper half of our band. We think that consecutively, the H2 profitability is going to be at least what we delivered in H1, that keeps us well in the band that we have guided and recommitted today.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
The next question comes from the line of Vanessa Jeffriess from Jefferies. Please go ahead. Miss Jeffriess, your line is now open. You may go ahead with your question.
Sorry, I was on mute. Congratulations on the results. First, I just wanted to ask about the sustainability of some of the large margin improvements you saw, like in Lifecycle Solutions and in Clarion, which also faced some memory headwinds. I guess to me, if I just use first half 2026 as an example and put your 3% target on lighting, you're almost nearly at your 2028 margin target, and there's not that much to do in the rest of the business. The biggest piece is really lighting. Is that fair?
I think you are mentioning the totality of the cluster. I would say that Lifecycle Solutions is on the high side in terms of profitability profile. It's really a very good semester that has been recorded by Lifecycle Solutions. Clarion, it's really a sustainable progress. It's not only the growth in revenues, but it's also the outcome of all the actions that have been done in terms of rationalization of the R&D in particular, but as well previously of the manufacturing footprint. Clearly, this is showing progress there. Indeed, let's say the contribution that is really to improve is what you mentioned, which is lighting, and this is what we are mentioning with the transformation plan that has been described by Martin before, and starting with returning to 3% in 2028.
That will be a good complement to the evolution of the cluster indeed.
Thank you. Congratulations on your progress in Defense. I was just wondering if you could talk more about the attractiveness of either volume or profitability in that area, because we've heard some different things, I guess, from different companies.
Good question, Vanessa. Good morning. We made a very conscious decision now to extend further into the defense space. I'll tell you, we have already a good foothold into that market space. It is FORVIA HELLA that for many years have sold lighting and electronics products basically to defense vehicles. We understand the ecosystem, we understand the processes, and we have now very intensely over the last six to nine months looked at that field of drones. That was the announcement this week, that we have secured a first assembly contract for drones. Why do we think it's good for us to play in that field? I talked about the familiarity, and we see basically two ways to conquer that space. One is through manufacturing capabilities and capacities. The other one is through components.
We have capacities in Europe, in Germany and France specifically, in our plants that we can use for that kind of business. We see the investment that goes with it as limited and very manageable for us. When we go onto the component side, those products that I mentioned earlier, for energy management, for battery packs, for motors, for actuators, that's right in our wheelhouse. It is really a very proximate adjacency that we can use. That gives us the confidence that we can go into that market, convince more customers, and we do it in a serious manner. We have now a dedicated team in place that will explore opportunity by opportunity, and we'll book them one after the next. I hope that describes the rationale good enough for you to relate to it.
Yes. Thank you. Finally, I was just wondering if you could talk about the Chinese OEM order intake year-on-year. I guess because if you work it out from the presentation last year, it looks maybe lower year-on-year, but obviously, the numbers aren't comparable. Just if you can talk about that progress. Then also just wondering if you're still assuming fourth quarter for BYD in Hungary.
Yeah. Let me answer on the Chinese OEMs. It is a good number again, and maybe we didn't show it in the same format, but let me give you some clarity on that. 17% of our global order intake is with Chinese OEMs specifically. This time we chose to show that, and it compares to about 10% of their share into our 2025 sales. You can see that there is quite an upswing. I think the book-to-bill ratio, if you would calculate that, is about 3x for the Chinese OEMs. Maybe, Olivier, you want to comment?
The second part of the question, we confirm that there will be activity with BYD in Hungary. Actually talking about Chinese car makers in Europe, it will be also the case with Leapmotor in Spain.
Thank you.
We now have a question from the line of Ross MacDonald from Citi. Please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you very much. I have three questions also. The first two on the cash flow generation, which is obviously very strong. My question is for Olivier on those two items. Olivier, you touched on some of the second-half step-ups in terms of headwinds on the free cash flow side. I just wanted to make sure that when we go through the net cash flow bridge, that I am on top of all of these. You mentioned the purchase option in Mexico and the settlement of tax litigation. I think that was EUR 150 million of additional. It looks like on your CapEx guidance, that will step up probably from 4.8% to maybe something like 7% of sales in the second half. What are the other moving parts in terms of free cash flow generation? Should we expect a neutral impact from working capital?
Obviously, it sounds like margins will be flat or up on EBIT. All together, how do we think about the sort of quantum of free cash generation in the second half? It looks like you only have to generate under EUR 200 million here to hit the guidance, so it looks reasonably comfortable. The second question linked to free cash flow, specifically on interiors, easy to forget, but it's had a very strong first half on cash generation also. How should we think about the second-half cash generation there? Obviously, that still benefits the group on a de-gearing basis. My final third question for Martin, just on the China order book, as discussed there, 17% obviously a very nice number. I think some of your competitors talking more about mid-20% on the order bank with China or Chinese OEMs.
What's the internal target of where you'd like that book-to-bill or order bank as a percent of sales to get to? Just for the sake of comparison, are you using the S&P estimates for the nameplate volumes when calculating those order banks? Thank you.
Olivier, go ahead.
Let me start with the first question related to the cash flow. The EUR 150 million is related to those two items. Let's be clear, they are one-off. They are not repeatable, but it is important in terms of the sequence, because compared to usual seasonality of cash flow, this is something that you have to capture. The second point is that I confirm that the guidance is including those items. Let me remind that the guidance is a minimum of 3% of sales. Clearly, this is the minimum, and the idea is really to be well inside. Related to other moving parts, the working capital should be fair. The seasonality working capital, H1, H2, should be fairly similar to last year. We have more working capital contribution, normally in the second half. That should be the case as well.
Clearly, yes, investment will be higher in the second half related to, in fact, the EUR 90 million of the EUR 150 million that is related to CapEx, also the seasonal aspect. We are in a good trajectory, a good trend, I would say the recurring trend inside is quite positive on the cash flow generation. Related specifically to interior, because of the IFRS 5 rules, operating metrics are not including interior already. This is true also for the net cash flow. Of course, the cash flow of interior contribute to the debt reduction and the improvement of the financials of the company until closing. I would say that we expect the second half to be lower than the first half, which was particularly strong. It is also reflecting that we will finish, in fact, the closing within Q4.
You can consider some contribution, not to the same extent as in H1.
All right. Thank you. Ross, talking about the China order book, I think it is important to always look at order intake over an extended timeframe. You refer to the numbers H1 and maybe market numbers you have just caught up. I just did the math in parallel. When you look back to 2025, we were also in that mid-20% range with Chinese OEMs making a good part of the orders. Going forward, strategically for us, China remains key. We are definitely going after the business over there. Remember, what is really important for us is the diversification of customers that we have been driving and continue to drive for the rest of the year. That mid-20% range is certainly a good indicator of where we have been and what should be a good share.
You asked also, how about the calculation of the orders? What volumes do we assume? S&P is always a baseline for us, but when we calculate the orders, there's many more inputs because we have to really look into the vehicle lines. We have to look into the equipment rates of some of the features and products we provide. Typically, we also have customer information and weigh that with our own understanding of the market. Our intention is to be as most realistic as we can somewhat be when we calculate these estimates.
Thank you very much.
The next question comes from the line of Thomas Besson from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much. I have a few questions as well. I'd like to follow up on your answer, Martin, on how realistic you can be at assessing your order intake with more of a philosophical question on how you can do that. Notably on the European footprint, can you share with us your degree of optimism about the ability of Germany and France who eventually agree on something concrete on European local content that would allow you not to have to repeat what you just did in terms of adjusting your European footprint? Can you also share with us your degree of optimism on the USMCA renegotiations and the degree of U.S. content? The first question.
Morning, Thomas. Let me get started on the EU footprint, maybe I have to ask back on the order intake. I'm not quite sure I captured the question completely. Let's talk about EU footprint and local content. You know our philosophy, right? We like local for local in order to just take risk out of the supply chain. In that sense, we applaud what's happening right now as a proposal to the Industrial Accelerator Act, because it encourages that. At the same time, it's a big political discussion, and we'll see how the different instances of the European community are going to decide. What we are highly in favor of is what was in the initial draft, namely that 70% of the vehicle components would be localized in Europe. I think your question really targets, what if not as much?
First of all, then we will have to react as FORVIA. If we figure out that our products are at a better cost available from China or other countries in the world, we're not going to forgo sales, right? We will be delivering product from those regions. Yes, then in this case, we would have to look what is restructuring implications. All over the discussion at this point in time is still too vague to anticipate what's happening. We are getting prepared, though. You can imagine with the various diversification streams that we investigate, our announcement into defense, the sale of an Augsburg facility to General Dynamics from the U.S., you can see how we get prepared for eventual outcomes. USMCA, it is an annual process of reviewing between the three countries. I would say so far so good.
What we say is, if USMCA stays in shape with a couple of changed percentages of local content and possibly the U.S. role, we'll get that accomplished in our footprints as well. As we speak, we negotiate new contracts with the customers, that comes always also with a look at the footprint. There is U.S. facilities in the make that we are going to extend or even create in order to be in the right footprint for USMCA and what's coming. I would like to ask you, let's go back to your order intake question that I fully get the essence of it.
My point is just that it's very difficult for anyone to gauge where vehicles are going to be built and by who in five years' time. Building an order intake, I think, is quite complicated because we are not sure exactly who's going to make it. That's all I meant. If that's okay, I'm going to move to my next question, which is to discuss Clean Mobility. Remarkable performance, I thought, in this release. Could you talk about the regional performance in H1? Is it a key driver for the improved master margins? Has it also managed to improve again in China? What do you expect for H2 and 2027 in Clean Mobility?
Clean Mobility overall had a very strong run, and it goes back to really the management approach taken into the business. Originally, we have to assume that capacities are going to be stable at best, and that volumes over time, in particular in China and Europe, will go down. The team has taken a very strict approach around the globe to say, let's anticipate that. Let's adjust, even pre-adjust our structures such that we can stay and at profitability, even increase profitability. There's real and hard work behind it. How do I see it go forward? It's a very strong year of order intake for the Clean Mobility business as well. We have secured significant business in North America, quite some conquest business thereof as well.
We will see with, again, the typical lead times of 1.5-2 years in that region to SOP, how that is going to support sales and profitability in the North American region in particular.
Great. Thank you. My next question is about the timeline and the share of outflow we should expect in 2026 from the EUR 150 million one-off charge related to the sale disposal you mentioned. Can you just remind us? I assume it has zero impact on the plans we effectively have with it included EUR 1 billion+ net debt reduction from the transaction.
The line is not perfect, Thomas, I will repeat my understanding of the question just to be sure.
Sorry about that.
It's no problem. You were asking whether the EUR 150 charge I'm mentioning is part or not of the EUR 1 billion cash proceeds from the Interiors transaction?
I'm asking when is the EUR 150 million outflow planned? Is it planned for Q4 or for 2027? Does it affect the EUR 1 billion net debt reduction? Is it included or not?
The EUR 150 million mentioned is inside the P&L, which is related, in fact, one, to this recycling of Forex inside the equity back to P&L. It has no cash impact, actually. There is also the other part is related to the tax on capital gain in certain countries at closing. All those items are, in fact, already integrated in the EUR 1 billion net debt reduction that we are mentioning and in the EUR 1.4 billion gross debt reduction that we are mentioning. It has been already captured in the impact of the transaction. No change there. Absolutely no impact on the benefit of the transaction.
Great. Thank you very much. If that's okay, I'd just like to squeeze in a rapid modeling question for you as well, Olivier. Can you give us an idea of the net interest and tax charges in H2? Also, the net interest charge really goes down because of what you've done in terms of deleveraging and reimbursement of Schuldschein lines. The tax charge you said would be substantially higher. Can you give us an idea of the magnitude, please?
Related to financial interest, you see that we have some reduction. We should have something as well in the second half. Now, the big evolution in terms of financial cost is related to the transaction of Interiors, for which the proceed is end of the year, so the benefit is more next year. Related to tax, inside the EUR 150 million that I mentioned in one-off cash outflow in the second half, you have EUR 50 million, EUR 60 million that are related to tax, which is what you have. After, you have more seasonality of some items withholding tax and others. The main evolution on tax is from a cash perspective, and I guess this is what you are focused on, is the EUR 50 million, EUR 60 million of tax litigations from the past.
Thank you very much.
We now have a question from the line of Stephen Reitman from Bernstein. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good morning, Martin and Olivier. I have two questions, please. Kind of related, really. On one hand, we had BMW's new CEO, Milan Nedeljković, saying that BMW has to work more closely with its suppliers to take account of the massive improvements the suppliers have done in terms of standardization in order to reduce BMW's own costs as well. What would you comment about what FORVIA can offer in that respect? My second question really is about yesterday's announcement from Xiaomi about the pricing of their new Sky Nomad vehicles, which again, seem to be almost a case of economic nihilism. Pricing these vehicles at RMB 300,000 when their competitor vehicles from the Chinese brands are at the RMB 150,000 level.
What do you think is really happening in the China market, how difficult does that make for you to compete when you're seeing these kind of price downs that are still going through despite
Despite the efforts of the Chinese government to put more rationale into the market. Obviously we've seen what's happened with good BYD for yourselves. Thank you very much.
Good morning, Stephen. Two very good and relevant questions in terms of strategy for us. The engagement with our customers, and you quoted some of them, is a very direct, very intimate one. When I think what makes the difference in the FORVIA approach, it's the proactiveness that we have traditionally brought to the party. We are very glad that some OEMs now express exactly that proximity we want. You can imagine that as starting really from a good solid technology exchange. It cannot be transactional, that we receive a request for quotation and then respond. Our work with the customer starts much earlier, when vehicle concepts are being firmed up. That's when we can shine through our technology. By the way, this has been something that drove us into China and into being successful in China.
That we have very high-level discussions with the customers. What is needed? What do we anticipate? What do we envision for the next line of vehicles? That early work starts. It never stops. You get into the development. Sure, changes occur. We got to be very fast in accommodating those. Also for our products in production, we are with customers to say, how can we upgrade features? How can we drive costs further down in order to keep vehicles attractive? Again, it's that intimacy. It's the proximity. It's the service, right, and the investment that we afford into these relationships that will make us prevail. We're very happy that more and more customers come to the understanding we got to truly collaborate. It cannot be transactional. Now, the second question, how to keep competing in the Chinese market.
Well, quite a few of these recipes apply also to China, and keep applying. We cannot be any complacent in China. What we see happening within FORVIA is that more and more activity that is to differentiate us in China is driven by our Chinese teams. That's across the board. That's FORVIA, it's for Hella, where we put more and more effort, more and more teams in front of the customers to be fast enough to feel the wind, right? To have the face in the wind, to have the expectations clear, then work locally into the supply chains that we can stay up to competition in China. So far so good. You see the order intake. You see the margin that we sustain. We keep pushing that direction.
Thank you.
As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. We now have a question from the line of Stephen Benhamou from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning, guys. Congrats for the results. I have two questions. The first one is on accounting. Actually, I was wondering if the other side of the purchase option in Mexico has an impact on operating lease, and if so, what should we expect for H2 and going forward? The second one is regarding your adjacent opportunities in defense. Can you please educate us on what's the type of drone that you are assembling? Is there any indication in terms of price range? What do you expect in terms of normative margins? Another follow-up question is, when do you expect to reach your target of 1,000 drones assembled per month, as you mentioned in your presentation a few days ago? Thank you.
Good. Olivier, I'll let you start with the accounting question.
Yeah, you are perfectly right. We are exercising the purchase option on an existing site for us, which currently we are leasing. Which means that we will have a reduction of the leasing commitment of EUR 30 million-EUR 40 million in the second half. At the same time, we are buying the site.
Good. Let's talk about the defense diversification then. The type of that first drone we are going to manufacture is an air defense drone, an interceptor drone that goes up to fight incoming drone attacks. The margins and the price points are certainly something I have to treat in a confidential manner. As a general margin statement, I think it's fair to say that the defense OEMs value the contributions of their local supply base in Europe, and that's also expressed in margins. We expect to leverage that local-to-local setup here in Europe. When are we going to reach 1,000 drones per month? We are now building the first 500. We are going to learn from that. The contract anticipates us to get to that rate sometime in the first half of next year.
Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I would now like to turn the conference back over to the room for the web questions.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Let's start with the first question.
Question by Peter [Rothen] about order intake. We have + 15% in H1 2026. You expect to sustain the strong momentum. Does that indicate that a 2026 intake level of some EUR 27 billion? Can you help understand how this is calibrated with the CMD target, which was EUR 21 billion, EUR 22 billion?
Morning, Peter. Let me shed some light on that. +1 5% in H1, EUR 13.4 billion roundabout. I see you did the math and say, "Can we assume that should end up at EUR 27 billion for the year?" Our intention is to keep the momentum and keep the gradient. However, in the end, one big deal more or less in the year can make a difference, so we always rely a bit on the timing of our customer awards as well. Directionally, we want to keep that strong momentum. Can you help understand how that relates to the CMD sales? On average, what we acquire now is going to show up on the streets with SOPs in 2028, and then typically volumes ramp up thereafter. You can see how we now already fuel the growth phase that we have set to start in 2028.
We stick with the guidance we have given to 2028, but we need that momentum to build, to get FORVIA really on the growth ramp 2028 and beyond.
Thank you, Martin. We have a second question from Peter. Can you share with us moving parts of the margin guidance for H2 2026, given that, first, lighting should benefit from restructuring initiative. Second, we should have cost benefits from EU-FORWARD and SIMPLIFY. Third, there is a normal seasonality and country mix. Four, inflation headwinds is mitigated. Should margin guidance be seen as cautious, and cautious due to China situation and Middle East? Please elaborate on this.
Peter, First, thanks for that perfect bridge on what all the different impacts are really into the full year guidance. Maybe before you go a bit deeper, Olivier, contemplate. We have a range of 6%-6.5% in our profitability guidance. We have the first half finished at 6%, I think this is a band that we can fill, and we work really diligently on approaching that band.
Maybe just to take the different element you mentioned. Lighting, we expect that in fact the profitability is bottoming up at H1 2026. You should see some improvement in the second half. Let's see the magnitude. On cost benefits EU-FORWARD and SIMPLIFY, we mentioned before, and we expect in fact same range of benefit H1, H2. I just want to mention one point on the seasonality. I think we had, in the past, in fact, seasonality related to inflation or other measures that are not exactly to the same magnitude. Because now we are, in fact, recovering it, I would say, faster. Seasonality H1, H2 on this item is probably less. After, we have a range of a guidance for a reason, given the volatility that exists out there. To have the first half already within the range is encouraging.
Let's see the evolution for the year.
Thank you, Olivier. I think that ends the Q&A session, which was really rich. Thank you everyone for participating, and I will now hand over to Martin Fischer for a few words of conclusion.
Let's wrap up. First of all, I very much appreciate that high level of interest in our current business and the outlook. For me, there are three key takeaways from the first half. We continue to deliver operational performance and cash generation that allows us the deleveraging to be on plan. We're accelerating the commercial momentum, so both in our traditional automotive business and in now adjacent markets, order intake is strong. Last not least, we further transform our culture, and that for me is the true enabler of performance. Thank you very much again, and I look forward to continuing our dialogue and our engagement through the second half of the year. Thank you very much.
Thank you.