French auto supplier Plastic Omnium reports strong growth, shares rise

PARIS (Reuters) - Automotive components manufacturer Plastic Omnium reported a 35% increase in revenue for the first half of the year on Monday, lifting its shares to the top of France's SBF 120 index.

Plastic Omnium confirmed its annual objectives, buoyed by a new record of orders over the past six months. Shares in the company were up close to 7% in early Paris session trade.

The company also flagged in an earnings call it anticipates price battles among automakers in the electric vehicle (EV) sector as they have to deal with a slowdown in orders, particularly in Europe, which will result in clients adopting a more aggressive pricing policy than in recent quarters.

Automakers will have no choice but to follow a trend of lowering prices if they want to maintain the necessary volumes, said Chief Executive Laurent Favre.

Chinese automakers and U.S. company Tesla, known for their competitive pricing, continue to perform well with high volumes, Favre said.

"We are fortunate to work with everyone, which means we also work with those who export," Favre said. "If they are the ones selling cars in Europe (...), we produce in China for them, and we are very pragmatic."

The company, which specializes in producing automotive components such as bumpers and fuel tanks, is also diversifying into hydrogen and lighting technologies.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume, writing by Tassilo Hummel, Editing by Louise Heavens)