Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Kongsberg Automotive's Q2 earnings call presentation. My name is Mads Langaard. I'm Head of Investor Relations at Kongsberg Automotive. With me today, I have our new Interim President and CEO, Linda Nyquist-Evenrud, and our CFO, Frank Heffter. Linda, the word is yours.
Okay, thank you, Mads, and once again, welcome to this Q2 earnings call. I'm happy to be elected the Interim President and CEO of Kongsberg Automotive, and through my 15 years at KA, I've come to appreciate the strength of all my colleagues, understand the solid bond we have with our customers, and our impressive product portfolio with market-leading positions. Not at least, the opportunities this company gives us as a company with a global footprint. In the last few years, KA has faced different challenges, mainly operational. Therefore, going forward, I will focus on operational improvements and employee satisfaction. Together with our highly skilled and motivated team, I'm looking forward to embarking on the journey of continuing the positive revenue trend, and more importantly, regaining profitability as soon as possible.
Before we move into the executive summary, I would like to start with the KA in brief and give a short recap about the company and its product portfolio. Let's move to the next page. As most of you know, Kongsberg Automotive is a global supplier of automotive systems and components. The company specializes in providing products related to driver control systems, powertrain, and fluid handling systems. We serve various markets, including passenger car, commercial vehicles, Off-Highway, and the industrial markets, and we operate in multiple countries, with manufacturing facilities, research centers, and offices across different continents. Our focus is on innovation and engineering expertise to deliver high-quality solutions to the automotive and industrial industry. Our total revenues in 2022 summed up to EUR 906 million. Next page, please.
Commercial vehicles, the segment is representing more than 50% of our revenues and include a number of products provided from both business segments. The vast majority of our products are also compatible with EV applications, ensuring a future-oriented product portfolio. On the right-hand side, we have highlighted key products that also represent new product offerings, starting with the electric actuators. KA offers a broad portfolio of electric actuators for future commercial vehicle drivetrain requirements, which is patented solutions. We offer actuators, for example, for differential lock, decoupling, or shifting applications. Our actuators are designed for efficient movements, high performance, and have a unique cam and spring design. Furthermore, we serve both linear and rotary application requests.
In terms of the Steer-by-Wire thermal valves, KA offers a smart thermal management valve for commercial vehicle applications, which combines both modularity and efficiency, specially designed for its application segments. It comes with an integrated actuator, which is based on a KA long-term expertise, and with a smart control. Our compressed air couplings is a technology leader focused on supplying state-of-the-art products to the global commercial vehicle market. Raufoss ABC product range provides customers with valuable, flexible solutions that can be tailored to their specific requirements. Our air coupling ensure an airtight system for vehicle energy savings and optimized system airflow to improve the braking response time, and thus consistently reduce vehicle stopping distance. The Raufoss Couplings brand has existed for more than 30 years and is a well-known product in the global market.
The thermal management system is one of our new innovation areas, where we utilize existing competence and technology across BUs and segments, adding in a good portion of engineering development to create new coolant lines and Couplings for the thermal management systems, both in terms of hybrid and battery electric, as well as fuel cell. This is done in close cooperation with the original equipment manufacturers or what we say OEM. We move into the next slide, please. Moving on to the Off-highway segment that represent vehicles and machinery that are not primarily designed for use on public roads, such as construction, agriculture, and mining. Just as for the commercial vehicles, the vast majority of our products for the Off-Highway segment is designed to also match with the growing EV markets.
Some of our key products are showcased on the right-hand side. Starting with the steering columns, which is a modular design that can be configured to all vehicles with both tilt and telescoping features. The anticipated growth rate for this product is in the area of 15%-18%. Pedals is another key product design for the harsh applications the Off-Highway vehicles are subject to. We have a Hall-effect sensor that can be configured for all applications, and our anticipated growth rate for this product is in the range of 8%-12%. Fluid transfer or PTFE hoses are used for applications such as turbo, exhaust gas recirculation, fuel transfer, hydraulic brake, air compressor, exhaust lines, and coolant for various subsystems. Compared to steel and rubber lines, the PTFE hose are lightweight, and compared to nylon and rubber, shows a very low permeability.
PTFE does have the lowest coefficients of friction of any solid material known, making the fluid transfer smooth with minimal pressure drops. Additionally, PTFE hose can be pre-shaped for, you know, a tight packaging on the vehicle. If we move to the next slide and our Passenger Car segment or the light duty vehicles, the product offering is targeting the growing EV markets and applications such as air suspension. Products that are designed to enhance the performance and safety of the vehicle. Adding a bit flavor to the product on the right-hand side, starting with the electric actuators, KA shift and select actuators, with its compact and light packaging offers premium performance with a back drivable gear train, including high position accuracy.
Actuators that can be offered both with embedded hardware and software as a standalone unit or with hardware containing only sensor systems for applications where other separate control units is planned to operate it. For the shift-by-wire systems, it's worthwhile to mention that KA is an established supplier for various type of shifters in shift-by-wire context. For the future trends towards, for example, shift by touchscreen, Kongsberg Automotive offers a modular concept combined with excellent performance and flexible touch and press characteristics. As a summary, I would like to underline that our product offering for all three end markets are well positioned for the growing EV markets, our continuous focus will be on areas where we can define our position as second to none. With that, I would like to move into the executive summary on page seven.
Okay, let's start on the, on the upper left side. Our revenues in Q2 ended on EUR 224.5 million, which is equivalent to a 17.5% growth rate year-over-year at constant currency rate and excluding the BRP sales divested at the end of Q4 2022. Our adjusted EBIT came in on EUR 0.3 million, which is a decrease by EUR 3.7 million year-over-year, impacted by operational one-time effects of EUR 5.4 million within the P&C segment, as well as the divestment of BRP amounting to EUR 1.1 million and a less favorable product mix.
Our free cash flow came in positive with EUR 4.8 million, an improvement of EUR 0.8 million year-over-year, while the leverage ratio and the net interest-bearing debt improved significantly, mainly as a result of the proceeds received from the divestiture to BRP, completed in quarter four, 2022. In terms of new business wins, we managed to sign EUR 171.5 million of new business wins in quarter two, which is an improvement year-over-year of EUR 3.6 billion. Next slide, please. Looking into the segments, starting with P&C or powertrain and chassis, we can see a revenue increase of EUR 9.2 million year-over-year, equivalent to +8.1%, despite the negative currency translation effects of EUR 6.7 million.
The revenue growth was mainly driven by increases in the European and American commercial vehicle markets, partially offset by the significant decrease of revenues in the passenger car market in China, declining with EUR 9.2 million. It is worthwhile to mention that we are pursuing a case related to infringement of our intellectual property in the Chinese markets. adjusted EBIT was, as previously mentioned, hit by operational one-time effects, mainly related to the one product warranty case and write-down of inventories in North America. In terms of value creation within the P&C, our focus is on finalizing negotiations to charge out supplier price and labor cost increases, anticipated to give them positive impact in second half. Following the reduction in the passenger car market in China, we have successfully implemented measure to rightsize our organization, an activity that will continue in other regions where needed.
We will also continue to promote our new generation of smart actuators with an increased focus on the Chinese and Asian Pacific market, an activity that is progressing well. Next slide, please. Moving on to the segment Specialty Products. Quarter two ended up with revenue of EUR 16.6 million, higher year-over-year on a constant currency rate and excluding the BRP sales divested at the end of 2022. This was mainly driven by the growth of the Flow Control Systems revenues then linked into Europe and in the United States, as well as the growth of Off-Highway revenues in Americas. Adjusted EBIT came in on EUR 8.6 million, a reduction of EUR 0.9 million year-over-year, excluding the BRP sales, where the decline was mainly attributable to the lingering unfavorable product mix.
In terms of key value creation and measures within the Specialty Products, they are focused on finalizing the negotiations to charge out supplier price and labor cost increases, similar to P&C. Something that we are anticipating also to give them positive impact within the second half. A strong focus on operational performance, improvement projects and cost control in all areas. Within the business unit Flow Control Systems, there is a high focus level on people development and best practice sharing across regions and plants. Next slide, please.
As a last page in our Executive summary, we would like to give some light to the good news we shared on July eleventh, that KA has acquired 20% of the shares in Chassis Autonomy, with an option to acquire up to 100% of the total outstanding shares within 2027. Chassis Autonomy specializes in design and development of steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems for use in highly automated and fully autonomous vehicles, as well as agriculture and construction applications, where KA is seeking a strong market position. This technology will allow KA to empower customers to incorporate fail operational steer-by-wire solutions in their vehicles today, preparing them for autonomous driving for road and farming vehicles. If we go then a couple of slides and moving into the chapter market update, please. Okay, very good.
We start with a well-known page describing how the global production for both commercial vehicles and passenger cars are develoing. As you can see, both markets are showing a positive growth development year-over-year, where commercial vehicles is driven by higher production volumes in China and European markets, resulting in 18% growth year-over-year, and estimated growth of 7.3%, comparing 2023 with fiscal year 2022. The global passenger car production indicates a 13.9% year-over-year growth, triggered by growth in all regions. Comparing the full year, we see an increase of +4.5%, comparing 2023 production estimates with the fiscal year 2022. Next slide, next slide, please.
For completeness, we're also including a market forecast, on the more long-range perspective, we see a low to moderate market growth in both segments, where China is the primary driver for the growth in the coming years. LMC Q1 report indicated a growth rate of 18%, including China, for commercial vehicles, the same time frame, 2023 to 2027. On the passenger car side, a 10% growth rate, including China, for the same time frame. This is also what we then showcased in our Q1 earnings call presentation. If we move into the next slide, you know, talking about the challenges that remains within the automotive industry, here we still see some clouds on the sky, although situation is improving in terms of semiconductor shortages, as well as for the supply chain situation.
On the positive side, we see further reductions related to energy prices and raw materials. Worthwhile to mention is that our recovery rate is exceeding 90% year-to-date, related to semiconductor. Next slide, please. Looking into the KA Q2 performance within the different segments and regions, we can see that KA has outperformed the growth in the CV market in both the Americas and in China, a trend that has been maintained for 3 quarters in a row. The growth is driven by new product launches to a well-known global Tier One customer, as well as global OEM customers. The growth in the commercial vehicles market is part of the strategic shift for KA. On the contrary side, in the passenger car market, we see the impact of the lower sales in China related to our Driveline business and increase in local competition in China.
The decrease in other is related to the divestment of Powersports business to BRP, completed end of last year. Hence, it's not included in the Q2 2023 revenues. However, excluding these revenues from Q2 2022, the other revenue would have increased by 25.4% on constant currency basis, comparing year-over-year. Next slide, please. To wrap up the market update, I would like to touch base on the book-to-bill performance and future-looking development in terms of growth. KA is still on track. New business wins for Q2 amounted to EUR 70 million annualized, with lifetime revenues of EUR 171.5 million. Due to seasonality effects and customer award cycles, we expect a strong second half in terms of new bookings.
I expect to finish 2023 with a book-to-bill higher than 1, again, showing growth higher than the markets. Wins in Q2 was again strongly weighted towards our commercial vehicle and the industrial segments. A major contract extension for our gear transmission management products and, you know, new business awards for air suspension assemblies. With that, I would like to give the word over to Frank and the financial update. Frank, please.
Yes, good morning, also a warm welcome from my side. Let's, sorry, start with the revenues. Revenues for Q2 2023 were EUR 225 million, basically flat on a reported basis versus Q2 2022. If we adjust 2022 for the EUR 24.7 million revenues to BRP that were divested later in the year, and 2023 for the - EUR 10.6 million currency impact, the underlying development was very positive, with a growth of 17.5%. It's also worthwhile to note that both P&C and SPP contributed to this growth. If you add Q1 and Q2 at half year, with revenues of EUR 453 million, we are well on track to reach our full year guidance on the top line.
If we look at adjusted EBIT, we reported EUR 0.3 million for the quarter, and an adjusted EBIT margin, if you go to the next slide, please, of 0.1%, driven mainly by negative one-off effects in P&C and overall unfavorable product mix in both P&C and SPP. On the next page, I will elaborate a bit more on the reasons behind that. When we look at previous year, Q2, the numbers still included the revenues with BRP that we later divested, EUR 24.7 million, and a contribution of EUR 1.1 million. A comparable base is actually revenues of EUR 200.9 million, with EUR 2.9 million of adjusted EBIT.
From that base on, we saw good sales growth in Americas and Europe in P&C, with EUR 22.8 million, and an adjusted EBIT increase as well of EUR 0.8 million. Sales in Asia Pacific decreased slightly, as well as the adjusted EBIT. The adjusted EBIT of P&C without China also includes negative one-time effects of EUR 5.4 million. They are coming, on one hand, from a warranty case related to an actuation product in the U.S., where we had to make additional accruals, as well as extraordinary inventory write-offs related to inventory that became obsolete due to the introduction of new product variances. In P&C China, we continue to see the declining top line on highly high-margin business, EUR 4.4 million lower revenue, and a related impact of EUR 2.8 million on adjusted EBIT.
Looking at SPP, also here, again, a solid growth in FCS, EUR 10.2 million. The adjusted EBIT decreased by EUR 500,000, as we are continuing to see challenges on the shop floor, on execution, having higher labor variances than expected. This we need to get out of the organization. In BRP, again, excluding the sold revenues, we also saw a growth of EUR 6.4 million, slightly declining EBIT. Here, we are still working through the backlog for one customer with overtime, expect this to end in the third quarter. That will also then trigger already negotiated price increases that will materialize in the third quarter. Looking at net income on the next page, where we reported a loss of -EUR 2.8 million in the last quarter, 2022.
We had the adjusted EBIT declining by EUR 3.7 million on the back of the mentioned one-time items. In addition, we have conducted an extraordinary impairment test at half year on the back of triggering events, i.e., a reduction of the long-range plan figures in Driveline, and also a new assessment of potential opportunities in the future on new business wins. When conducting this impairment test, we had to acknowledge that in Europe, we do not see positive cash flow generation in the foreseeable future, and thus decided to impair all the non-current assets in this region. In China, one customer project also was impaired, or assets related to this customer project, as the customer has moved the volume to a competitor of ours, and thus left us with idle capacity.
We are currently pursuing intellectual property infringements on this supplier and expect here positive outcome, but potentially not anymore in this fiscal year. Also here, we took an impairment of the non-current assets. Restructuring interest and other financial items were somewhat in line with previous year. On the financial items, we had a gain on investments that we took in money market funds. That was positive. We continue to face currency losses, although significantly less than in the first quarter. Now, in the second quarter, amounting to a net - EUR 2 million that we have accounted for. Last but not least, we had higher income tax expenses than in the previous year's quarter, predominantly due to the fact that on this low profitability, we have not recognizable or unusable losses in Switzerland as well as in Norway.
Moving on to the net financial items, then we again see that, on the net currency effects, we are now slightly on the negative side in Q2 2023. Also accumulated, we are now slightly negative with this EUR 3.5 million reported in Q2 2023, with overall -EUR 0.2. We also see the NOK strengthening, so this should actually turn in the different direction again in Q3. Other financial items continue to be in the positive territory, and the net interest, again, is on a significantly lower level than in 2021 and also 2022, on the back of the deleveraging. Looking at the free cash flow on the next page, we see a positive EUR 4.8 million for the quarter.
In free cash flow, a total change in cash of EUR 1.1 million, as we have repurchased, repurchased some of our bond notes in the quarter, in the open market. The cash flow from operating activities was positive EUR 12.7, with also positive change in net working capital. Here, we were able to increase our accounts payable by EUR 6 million. That significantly contributed to the positive change in the quarter. Needless to say, that these payables need to be paid one time. This will happen or has already happened at the beginning of quarter three. The investing activities amounted to - EUR 4.6 million. Therein, investment expenditures of EUR 5.1 million. We continue here on a relatively low basis, containing our cash and making only very selected investment decisions.
Financing activities came in at -EUR 7.6 million. Normal lease liabilities, cash outflow, and then the repurchase of the bond notes. When we look at the overall liquidity development, we see on the back of this positive EUR 1.1 million change in cash, basically flat development, adjusted EBIT and other operating cash flow items contributed positive. Whereas the tax payments and investment expenditures contributed negative. The financing activities, like I mentioned, interest bearing liabilities, our leasing and bond notes, were the cash outflow that we used the money for. I just realized that the chart is not did not change, I think we can show it again. Here, this is the page I was referring to.
Overall, a flat liquidity development, with EUR 255.8 million, we are still in a very comfortable position, with EUR 50 million of the undrawn revolving credit facility, EUR 25 million of the unutilized RCF, and EUR 180.8 million in cash. On the last page of the financial section, let's look at the key financial ratios. The gearing ratio amounted to 1.2, including IFRS 16 effects and very low 0.3, excluding these effects. Still, very solid levels and a significant improvement, again, versus the prior year quarter. The adjusted ROCE on the back of the relatively low adjusted EBIT was at around previous year levels, slightly above, at 4.1%, respectively, 4.7%.
The equity ratio decreased to 34.5%, or respectively, 31.7%, on the back of the net losses that we have to account for, including the non-cash impairment of the driveline assets. The capital employed, also on the back of the write-down and the improvement in net working capital and the low-- relatively low divestments, decreased to EUR 451 million or EUR 492 million, ex- including the IFRS 16 liabilities and assets. With this, I'd like to hand it back to Linda for the next section.
Thank you, Frank. As a quick update on our Shift Gear program, I would like to highlight that the net result, quarter two came in slightly positive with EUR 0.1 million, meaning that we have been able to offset the negative impacts linked to supply chain inflation, warranty costs, inventory valuations, and also a weaker demand in Driveline, with the positive impact generated by customer price negotiations and continuous operational improvements. Our full- year forecast indicates a net positive effect of EUR 0.7 million, which is a reduction of EUR 4.3 million compared to a net positive effect of EUR 5 million reported in quarter one. Next slide, please. Very good. Moving into our last slide and the outlook section, and starting with the guidance.
We are confirming previous revenue guidance of EUR 880 million-EUR 900 million. Following the operational one-time effects in quarter two, we have updated our adjusted EBIT guidance to EUR 20 million-EUR 25 million. In terms of the ongoing strategic review that was announced during the quarter one earnings call back in May, I would like to underline that we are working in close cooperation with both Rothschild and ABG Sundal Collier to explore and evaluate options to maximize future shareholder value. This is an activity that normally takes time, and when there is an update to be shared, we will ensure that this is being disclosed to, to the market. Last but not least, we are planning a breakfast meeting in quarter three, more precise, within September month, to give the chance for our shareholders to meet myself and the team in person.
This will take place in Oslo, and we will get back with venue and time within short. With that, we conclude our presentation, and we move over to the Q&A session. Mats, please take it from here.
Thank you very much, Linda and Frank. We have received some questions related to the departure of Mr. Buchheim. Please note that the departure of the previous CEO is a Board of Directors decision, so please understand that we, as a management, cannot comment to this. We've also received questions regarding reduction of inventory. Frank, what is the reason for the reduction in inventory, and why is it being written down now? Why, why do it now? Would it not make sense to wait for the write-downs?
Yeah. You, you have to write it down once you realize that it is unusable in the future. In the last quarter, we realized that these will not be used anymore, as the customer basically exclusively asks for the new variances of the product. We have tested as well, whether we can still sell it, or not, and whether it has a residual value. At the end of the day, you have to make the correction once you realize that you cannot use it.
Thank you, Frank.
Another one for you. On the warranty case with the actuators in the U.S., what was exactly the fault of the product there? Could that happen with other customers as well?
It was a, let's say, manufacturing defect, a process topic, and this was fixed at the customer, and it is specific to this one product. It cannot repeat, at, in other products because it is a specific topic with one single product.
Yes.
With this, with this increased warranty, we believe we are fairly covered for the cost in this year.
Yes. Thank you, Frank. We have some questions related to the ongoing strategic review. The questions are: What can you tell us about the timeframe going forward? Have there been any meetings, and can you provide some updates to the strategic review? Has Rothschild and ABG provided a preliminary valuation of the company? Linda, maybe you can give some favor to this.
For sure. As I just mentioned a few minutes ago as well, we have, you know, initiated the strategic review of the company, and the aim of the review is to evaluate options to maximize the future shareholder values. Over the coming quarters, KA will inform the market as soon as there is relevant results of the review that are being obtained. I think that's what we can share for now.
Yeah. Thank you, Linda. We also have some questions related to Chassis Autonomy. There are questions related to the transaction value. Maybe you can make a brief comment to that as well, Linda.
Yes, we stated in the presentation, the parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. When that's been said, this will, of course, also come out in our future quarter three report for that sake. As of now, decision taken not to disclose the value.
Thank you. Another question is related to Chassis Autonomy. Could you provide more insight into your thoughts about the company and the synergies you see for the future?
In case, you know, when it comes to that one, first of all, we have, you know, customer sample orders anticipated now in 2023. A series nomination in 2024, and, start of production for the different levels is anticipated for 2026, 2027.
How many patents contracts does Chassis Autonomy currently have?
This is unfortunately not possible to disclose, I would say.
What does KA think about the statement that the company aims to become a unicorn business with a valuation of more than $1 billion in five years' time?
Yeah, you know, their focus on future technology and the synergies that we see with, with our product portfolio are, are promising, and it's also part of the reason why we have chosen to invest in them. We're looking forward to, to follow the development of Chassis Autonomy.
Thank you. There's also a last question: Could we receive a presentation that provides more detailed information about the company? It would be fair to say that we, as a company, have, of course, seen some, some more, information other than what's available to, to, to the public on the, on the company's website. We would please refer to, to, to Chassis Autonomy's website, in the first place. Some questions for Frank. After the sale of the divisions, KA has experienced reduced margins. Can you provide the information on the number of people in administrative roles when the company had 11,000 employees, and how many are in administrative roles now with 5,500 employees?
Yes. Before the divestments, we had around 440 FTEs in administrative roles, this number has reduced significantly to around 320 as of today. This is somewhat in line with the revenue we divested, although not with the number of FTEs overall, because the divested businesses were significantly, say, labor-intensive than the remaining business. With that, if you only look at FTEs, the percent of administrative FTE increased from 4%- 6%, that again is only one number to look at and potentially not the necessarily only and right one.
Thank you, Frank. Another one for you. When does KA plan to review costs and explore opportunities for savings in terms of employees, office locations, and consultants?
Oh, this is actually an ongoing task. As well as part of Shift Gear, we are looking at optimization measures. We have launched and publicly announced the overhead cost reduction program of EUR 10 million for this year, that is a daily task for us.
Thank you, Frank. Another one maybe also for you, Frank. Does it mean that the Shift Gear program is still greatly contributing, and how is the charging to the customers develo`ping?
Yeah. Yes, the if you compare also to what we have disclosed in Q1, you see that the positive effects of the Shift Gear program actually increased. It is of great value to the company. Unfortunately, on the other hand, we also saw an increase in the negative effects that, all in all, the net effect declined. Without this program, we would definitely not be on the profitability levels that we see currently and in the future.
Another one, Frank: What are you doing against the huge FX losses, which steals KA's profits?
Yeah, there are, I would say, easier things to tackle and more complicated things to tackle. Obviously, on an operational basis, we are constantly looking to better match the customer contract currencies and our cost currencies, so that at the end, we have a natural hedge. Then we have certain structural topics with intercompany financing activities in different currencies that we are looking at to optimize, but there's no fast fix at the moment.
Thank you. Another one for you, Frank. What was the thinking behind the bond buyback ahead of the strategic review conclusion, and are further buybacks being considered?
Yeah, it's actually more an opportunistic topic. From time to time, banks are approaching us to repurchase bonds as they have individual positions that they have been asked to sell, and here we take the opportunity to repurchase under the nominal value.
Next question: Do you expect EBIT to recover in second half? Any guidance for the full year, please.
I believe in terms of the guidance, that was also then mentioned during our outlook section. As we said, that due to those one-time effects in Q2, we have updated our adjusted EBIT guidance to the level of EUR 20 million-EUR 25 million. In terms of you, Sorry, Mats, expect to recover in second half. I think, you know, looking into where we are then year- to- date, with an adjusted EBIT of EUR 4.1 million, that means that there is a significant portion then to be generated into second half, related to those improvements that we are talking about on the operational side in terms of commercial excellence, as also mentioned already in the presentation.
Yeah, another question: What EBIT margin is KA aiming for in 2026?
I think, you know, in terms of, you know, I've been in the chair now only for a couple of weeks, and I will make through analysis and evaluations before I go into any of those details. For me, it's important now to use the time to sit down with the team and look into as well the future for this. That being said, you know, I have a good insight from previous positions into the company, and we have a great target to improve both operationally and financially going forward. That is clearly the target that we have.
Thank you, Linda. Another question: Significantly higher revenue should lead to higher adjusted EBIT. Significantly decrease in logistics costs and material and energy costs, and better semiconductor market should lead to higher EBIT. Yet, adjusted EBIT is going in the wrong direction. It leaves me, as an investor, in the dark in terms of what it takes to generate posted development in adjusted EBIT in KA. Do you need a posted development in all areas, including better product mix in Specialty Products and better sales of private cars in China and lower labor costs to become profitable, measured by adjusted EBIT, question mark? I would expect from a healthy business that it should be able to deliver strong, adjusted EBIT, even if not all areas perform optimally. Maybe you can elaborate a little bit on it, Frank.
Yeah, I mean, I don't disagree to the beginning of the long question here. It should, and that is what we are also expecting, lead to operational leverage when the top line is growing. If you have to account for certain legacy, historical, one-time effects, related to the past, then this certainly overshadows your current performance. You also know that the automotive industry is not a 20%+ adjusted EBIT margin business. A lot of things have to go right in order to perform on a good adjusted EBIT margin level. Does it always have to be everything? No, because never everything goes right. We need a couple of things. We can compensate for certain things with extraordinary measures, with passing on higher input cost to customers, with operational improvements.
That is what also makes us believe that we will improve already in the second half of the year.
Thanks, Frank. Another question for you. The SPP EBIT in the coming quarter, Q3 2022, is extremely high and tough comparable. How much of this figure was linked to BRP, in the previous quarter, i.e., Q3 2022?
Yes, you are right. There is a significant amount of one-time reimbursement for semiconductor spot buys included in the previous year's quarter in the magnitude of EUR 8 million, and this you certainly have to adjust for when doing a quarter-to-quarter comparison. We will provide you again the related figures excluding BRP for the previous year period.
Next question: Is the downwards, EBIT revision for the fiscal year 2023 linked primarily, primarily to China passenger cars?
No. Also referring to the previous longer question, we are confident that we can compensate the majority of these impacts already within P&C, through the growth in on-highway, and also through the cost containment measures. The main reason for the reduction is actually the one-time impacts we have accounted for in the second quarter.
Thank you, Frank. How to come back to the previous high two digit in SPP and how is Couplings developing?
Okay. I, I think first of all, in terms of we don't disclose information further down into the segments. Couplings is belonging to SPP, and I would say, you know, I also mentioned during the K in brief section today, it's, you know, an area involved in both existing markets and, customers as well, as well as, you know, new technologies such as the thermal management system. You know, as we also have indicated, there have been operational performance issues as well across the BUs and in the company. Something that we are working very hard on. As I also mentioned, in SPP, we are, and Flow Control Systems especially, working on also sharing best practice between plants and regions, to ensure that we, you know, continuously improve our processes.
Thank you, Linda. We have another question: Are the figures in accordance with the master plan for a sale of the company? You can please elaborate a little bit on it, Linda or Frank, but please note that we have not said that we are selling the company. We have said that we are initiating a strategic review, and with that, you can please elaborate a little bit more, Linda or Frank.
I, I think, you know, that is, in a way, the, the answer. We are running that strategic review. That is a process that is somewhat time-consuming as well. As we said, you know, whenever we have any information to, to disclose, to the market, we will for sure communicate that.
Yes, on the figures, the figures are what the figures are. We are reporting about the past quarter, any, any strategic, forward-looking action, doesn't influence the past results. We are reporting, the performance, the current performance of the company.
Another one for you, Frank. Why the obviously inherited, Driveline impairments haven't been impaired already during the big impairment in 2020?
Yeah. obviously, I was not part of the company at that time, but I have to assume that there was also a thorough assessment made at that time based on the outlook of the business, and that correction at that time was based on that and did not require a full impairment of the assets at that time. Now the situation has changed, and the outlook, especially for Europe, has weakened compared to what was looked at in 2020, and therefore, we have to take, unfortunately, another hit.
Thank you, Frank. Linda, one for you. Are we planning more acquisitions and investments? Is Chassis Autonomy part of a bigger strategy?
I think, you know, we have been touching base today in terms of Chassis Autonomy, and, you know, all in all, we see their technology as, you know, a very interesting, and promising technology, with good synergies as well to our products and the future path we have in there. In terms of other acquisitions, I would say we always have, you know, a view into the market and, and follow that as well. If there are cases coming up that is matching well with our scope, I would definitely say that that is of our interest.
Thank you, Linda. Another one for you. Is the previous outlined strategy to move after Driveline and invest more into on the, on-highway the absolute right way?
I think what we've said in general, and that has been, you know, the way mentioned, since also the Capital Markets Day back in 2021, we will continue... You know, first of all, we have a good positioning towards the electrical vehicle market, and we will continue focusing on areas where we can define our position as second to none. That will also be valid now going forward.
Mm. last one for you, Frank Heffter. is it right without the special effects in Q2, KA would have been significant better than previous years' quarters, means stabilizing more and more?
Yes, the, the, the math is right. As we have shown in the EBIT bridge, the comparable last year quarter would have been EUR 2.9 million, excluding BRP. If you add the EUR 5.4 million in Q3 2023, then obviously you would be significantly better.
Thank you, Frank. I think that's it. Yes, we have received one last question here: When do you think you will get the first order in the Chassis Autonomy? You probably responded it to some extent, Linda.
Yeah, we can recap on that one. We said that we are anticipating the first customer sample orders in 2023, and serious nomination in 2024. Serial production start is set towards 2026, 2027, for the different L4 and L3 levels.
Thank you, Linda. With that, it seems like we're through. Thank you all for participating. We wish you a nice day. Welcome back for the Q3 earnings call presentation, 7th of November. As Linda said, we will also host this breakfast meeting in September. We'll get back in due course with the time and place to meet.