BESSENBACH (dpa-AFX) - The head of commercial vehicle supplier SAF-Holland, Alexander Geis, expects a tailwind from recent strong demand in North America in the first half of 2023. In December, orders for trailers in the U.S. doubled to 57,000 units, the manager said at an investor event on Thursday in Bessenbach near Aschaffenburg. That pointed to a strong first half of the year, he added. SAF-Holland is well positioned to gain market share, he added. The commercial vehicle supplier recently expanded its business through the acquisition of Swedish brake manufacturer Haldex. SAF-Holland expects the acquisition to have a positive impact on earnings already this year.

He expects the Haldex integration to lead to an increase in earnings per share from 2023 onwards and to generate a positive return on invested capital, said Wilfried Trepels, who had been in charge of the finance department on an interim basis in recent months. Frank Lorenz-Dietz has been the new chief financial officer since this year.

The share, which is listed on the SDax, was up just under 0.6 percent at 10.50 euros on Thursday afternoon, roughly maintaining the level of the previous days. SAF investors were last able to purchase the share at this price at the beginning of March 2022. In the following months, the share recorded losses, going down to below 6 euros in October. From there, it recovered strongly.

SAF-Holland had wanted to acquire Haldex back in 2016, but had dropped out of a bidding competition at the time. Last year, the Group now acquired the Swedes for the equivalent of a good 300 million euros. Haldex produces braking systems such as air disc brakes and automatic brake adjusters as well as air suspension systems for heavy trucks, buses and trailers. SAF-Holland manufactures, among other things, axles and suspension systems as well as fifth wheels and landing legs for trucks and trailers./lew/ngu/nas