In a tough market environment, the group reported first-half sales of €14.1 billion, up 5.9% year-on-year (below), while business line operating profit reached €1.7 billion, up 11.4%. The group's pre-acquisition free cash flow reached 922 million euros, and full-year guidance has been revised upward.
Among other things, the passenger car tire market remained stable and the truck tire market declined. Despite strong demand for OE tires, it was also negatively impacted by continued inventory depletion in the retail channel as well as in B2B fleets. Total tire sales decreased by 3.7%, reflecting overall market trends and the Group's prioritization of higher-value segments.
Although sales volumes in the OE and replacement markets were down, overall price and product mix effects achieved a positive growth of 9.4%, mainly stemming from the value and mix effects of the products.
The financial results show that Michelin Group business line operating profit increased by 11.4% to €1.7 billion, with value management offsetting the negative impact of higher costs and lower sales volumes. The passenger car and specialty tire businesses performed well, while the road transport tire market was adversely affected by the original and replacement mix, combined with lower volumes, resulting in limited capacity utilization and fixed cost absorption. Specialty Tire operating margin increased to 18.3 percent, driven by solid performance in the Mining Tire, Aircraft Tire and High Tech Materials businesses.