HANOVER/HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Continental Supervisory Board Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle is considering a concentration of the DAX-listed corporation on its tire and rubber businesses, according to a press report. In the long-standing discussion about the composition of the corporation, Reitzle is thus putting the focus on the core business of the Hanover-based automotive supplier and tire manufacturer, "Manager Magazin" reported on Monday, citing sources close to the corporation's top management. Thus, the future core components of the group should include the profitable tire division and the business of the plastics division Contitech, which is not focused on the automotive industry. Conti CEO Niko Setzer meanwhile supports the project, it was further reported. Accordingly, the first step is to be the sale of Contitech's automotive parts.

The Conti share shot to the top of the Dax at midday with a gain of more than six percent. The company has been losing ground on the stock market for several years. A Conti spokesman confirmed that Contitech employees were recently told of plans to split the company into two parts. The plan is still in a conceptual phase, he said. He did not want to comment on further speculation. In principle, he said, it is the task of the Board of Management to deal with portfolio management, which it is doing. The Group had already announced a focusing of business activities on the occasion of its capital market days at the end of 2020.

Conti has been in the doldrums for some time now, with the automotive supply business in particular struggling, while the tire business brings in the lowen share of profits. Commenting on the half-year figures, Conti CFO Katja Dürrfeld told an analysts' conference that Conti currently has to invest heavily in the future business of its auto division, which is weighing on results.

Rumors of changes to the group structure have been around for a long time at Conti, with the latest talk being a split into four parts at the beginning of 2022. In September 2021, the Group had spun off its former powertrain division into the company Vitesco and put it on the stock market as a pure "spin-off." In the Contitech division, Conti manufactures, among other things, hose systems for the automotive industry, but also plastic components for conveyor belts and other industrial applications.

According to the report, the strategists in the Group are of the opinion that the Group would function better in separate parts. However, the major shareholder, the Schaeffler family of industrialists, which holds 46 percent of the shares, would also have to be convinced. According to the report, partnerships are increasingly being discussed for the automotive supplier division in order to meet the investment requirements - but also further splits, alliances or sales./men/ngu/jha/