HELLA GmbH & Co KGaA Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Akshat Kacker - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Good morning, Michel. Good morning, Bernard. Akshat from JPMorgan. Michel, firstly, thank you so much for all the collaboration and amazing discussion we have had over the years. It has always been super transparent and enlightening in my view. So I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Michel Favre Thank you for your message.

Question: Akshat Kacker - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : A quick follow-up on inflation. So when we talk about the 5% increase in 2024, are we mainly talking about labor inflation? Or are there any other factors that we should keep in mind? And another one quickly on R&D. When you think about your budget for next year, do you have a range in mind in terms of absolute R&D spend going into 2024? Michel Favre Yes. Thank you for these 2 big questions, important. So of course, I speak about labor first. Second, we cannot say that there is no inflation on indirect purchasing, et cetera. So we have to mitigate that and with some technical actions, et cetera. It's more difficult to illustrate how much it will be [on that]. What we -- I can say today is that our vision is that on semiconductors, on raw material apparent inflation is no more the case. But to be confirmed in the next months, mainly in this period, where we have some troubles, if I can use the -- this nice expression with respect to what is happening in Israel and in Ukraine. So the environment remains complicated. But the 5% inflation means that we have to offset a little more than 1 point starting with the budget. And of course, we will do it through our different, I would say, measures, which are some reduction of people, some SG&A optimization, some, I would say, development of R&D, of course, in low-cost countries like India. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. NOVEMBER 07, 2023 / 7:30AM, HLE.DE - Q3 2023 HELLA GmbH & Co KGaA Earnings Call R&D in absolute terms will increase due to, first, the order intake of this year. You know that we have another significant -- we will have a significant order intake. So we have an additional work linked with the order intake of this year and last year. And the second, we have some nice, I would say, opportunities, some very big [RFQs] on some key activities in Electronics mainly. And of course, we want to be successful, and we want to put to, I would say, the right means to be awarded. Any other question?