Brembo lifts 2022 guidance after strong quarter

MILAN (Reuters) -Brembo sees 2023 as another complicated year but manufacturers are getting used to navigating tricky times, its executive chairman said on Wednesday, as the Italian brakes maker hiked its forecasts for this year's revenues and earnings.

"We've seen COVID, crazy raw material prices, the war (in Ukraine) and higher energy costs it caused... unfortunately we're getting used to it," Brembo's Matteo Tiraboschi told Reuters, presenting third quarter results.

In the July-September period earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 59% to 177 million euros ($177.9 million).

"Next year will be another complex one, but I hope we can go back to some sort of normality, without further surprises," Tiraboschi said.

The company supplies automakers including Ferrari and Tesla as well as several Formula One teams. Its shares were up 1.4% by 1635 GMT, outperforming Italy's blue chip index.

Tiraboschi said that increased costs of logistics had weighed on Brembo's core earnings mostly in the first part of this year and were now back to "more acceptable levels".

Raw materials prices have probably peaked and are now seeing a small change of direction, he added.

"Energy costs have also slowed down a bit recently, but they remain the main source of concern," Tiraboschi told Reuters.

Brembo has countered higher costs thanks to its product volume mix, foreign exchange impact as well as price increases which indexed contracts it has with clients made possible, Tiraboschi said.

The company is now expecting 30% revenue growth in the full year 2022, or around 3.6 billion euros, versus a previous estimate for 3.5 billion euros, Tiraboschi said.

Full year EBITDA is now seen at 640 million euros, from 600 million euros previously, he added. ($1 = 0.9951 euros)

(Reporting by Enrico Sciacovelli in Gdansk and Giulio Piovaccari in Milan, editing Federico Maccioni and Keith Weir)