Continental CEO: priority is improving automotive sector

BERLIN (Reuters) - Continental has made improving its struggling automotive sector a priority, Chief Executive Nikolai Setzer told German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche on Thursday.

The tyre and automotive parts maker reported a non-adjusted earnings margin of -8.6% for the sector in the third quarter.

That's despite an intake of orders worth more than 6 billion euros ($6.22 billion) in the third quarter alone, it said.

Excluding special effects, the sector's third quarter adjusted earnings margin beat expectations at 5.8%, and the fourth quarter is also expected to be positive, said Setzer.

However, the previously stated full-year forecast for the sector of an adjusted margin between -0.5% and 1.0% stands.

Setzer said he was not satisfied with this: "We have not yet reached our medium-term goals. That is our priority."

($1 = 0.9646 euros)

(Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Madeline Chambers)