SAF-Holland products on display at the company’s exhibit booth at TMC 2023 in Orlando, Fla. (John Sommers II for Transport Topics)
Sales at SAF-Holland jumped in the second quarter of 2023 on the back of North American trailer and truck markets plus increasing demand for disc-braked axle systems for trailers, the component manufacturer said Aug. 10.
Bessenbach Germany-based SAF-Holland posted second-quarter sales of $610.29 million, a 33.7% increase from the year-ago period.
The company reported sales of $1.138 billion in the first six months, a 34% jump compared with $849.3 million year-over-year.
Profits at the original equipment manufacturer in the most recent quarter totaled $19.31 million compared with $19.74 million in the 2022 period. The company’s diluted earnings per share in the second quarter matched those from a year earlier at 43 cents.
SAF-Holland’s sales in the Americas in the most recent quarter soared 61.5% year-over-year to $268 million, while Asia-Pacific sales jumped 85.5% to $74.45 million.
Americas sales accounted for 43.9% of overall sales in the most recent quarter compared with 37.4% in the same period a year earlier.
Overall, demand for trailer and truck components remained robust in the Americas region due to solid OEM backlogs, the company said in a presentation accompanying the results, and North American trailer and truck markets are expected to continue to grow due to the strong OEM order backlog.
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ACT Research data show North American Class 8 year-on-year production growth in the second quarter of 11.4 %, while North American trailer production increased 8.9% year-on-year, SAF-Holland said.
The North American trailer market is expected to grow 8% year-on-year in 2023, while the region’s truck market is expected to grow 10% compared with 2022.
SAF-Holland also is benefiting from a more balanced regional mix. The Americas have gained in importance due to the acquisition of Swedish braking systems specialist Haldex AB and strong organic growth, while operations in the Asia-Pacific region benefited strongly from organic growth.
Trailer original equipment sales accounted for 53.9% of the company’s global total in the most recent three months compared with 59.3% in the year-ago period. Truck original equipment sales took a 31.7% share of the pie in the second quarter, compared with 28.1% in 2022.
A trend among major fleet operators toward using disc-braked axle systems for trailers also continued, the company said, noting it now had a strong market position in this segment.
SAF-Holland’s record sales came despite a cyberattack in late March. The cyberattack led to a temporary production interruption at several of the company’s manufacturing sites.
The company restarted production at its main European plant in Bessenbach in the second week of April. Around the same time, production at manufacturing sites in North America, which also were affected, returned to full capacity. The company estimated sales losses from production downtime of around $43.94 million.
