Ferrari, Aptiv lead Q1 auto stocks rebound

Europe's automakers, auto engineering groups and parts suppliers all enjoyed a strong recovery in shareholder value in the first three months of 2019 following significant losses in the preceding quarter. Automakers gained 9.7 percent, while parts suppliers improved 8.9 percent and auto engineering companies -- a new segment in Automotive News Europe/PricewaterhouseCoopers Transaction Services Shareholder Value Indices -- improved 10.9 percent.

These gains were in line with European stock markets generally, with Germany's DAX 30, which was up 9.2 percent, the French CAC40, up 13.4 percent, and the Euro STOXX Blue Chip 50, up 12.3 percent over the same period.

Following a review of auto-related companies now quoted on European exchanges, ANE and PwC have revised the Shareholder Value Indices, starting with the Q1 2019 report. Ferrari has joined the list of automakers and Autoliv spinoff Veoneer, German engine, transmission and chassis components maker Schaeffler and Melrose Industries, the UK company that recently acquired GKN, are now included in the suppliers' index.

Also, a new index of Europe's top automotive engineering firms replaces the retailer index, affording readers insight into a group of companies with a much wider global footprint. Italian engineering specialist Pininfarina, previously included in the suppliers index, has joined this group.

All the automakers, apart from BMW, achieved gains in Q1. Ferrari got off to a strong start by increasing its value to shareholders by 34.6 percent over the quarter. Ferrari was followed by Peugeot, up 16.6 percent on the back of a 7 percent increase in 2018 group sales to 3.88 million vehicles and a 40 percent increase in net profit to 3.3 billion euros.

Among suppliers the performance was more mixed, with the top 12 recording gains that ranged from Kongsberg's 0.7 percent to Aptiv's 29.5 percent. But seven companies recorded declines in shareholder value, with Autoneum (-22.1 percent) and Leoni (-42.5 percent) having the biggest drops. New entrants Schaeffler and Veonner recorded small declines.

For the parts supply sector overall, this was still a significant improvement on the performance in the last quarter of 2018, when all the companies in the index recorded double-digit declines.

The new engineering index, comprising 10 strong players in the automotive sector, achieved average gains in shareholder value of just under 11 percent in Q1. French digital engineering group Assytem led the way with a gain of 29.6 percent. It was followed by the Swedish autonomous solutions specialist Semcon, which improved by 26.0 percent, and Altran, an international consultancy firm with a focus on connectivity and electrification of powertrain, which gained 20.6 percent.