Car parts group Faurecia hopes to outperform uncertain market in 2019

PARIS (Reuters) - French car parts company Faurecia <EPED.PA> said on Monday that it hoped to outperform the market in 2019, even though it cautioned it expected automotive production in general to be slightly negative this year.

Faurecia, in which Peugeot-maker PSA <PEUP.PA> has a 46 percent stake, reported full year 2018 operating income of 1.27 billion euros (1.12 billion pounds), while its operating margin rose 50 basis points to 7.3 percent of sales.

Faurecia also raised its dividend by 14 percent from last year to 1.25 euros.

"In 2019, in a very uncertain environment, we assume that automotive production will be slightly negative," said Faurecia chief executive Patrick Koller in a statement.

"In this context, we are committed to further demonstrate the resilience of Faurecia. We will outperform the market and maintain strong profitability and cash generation," he added.

Faurecia is in the process of completing its acquisition of Japanese car navigation system maker Clarion <6796.T> for around $1.3 billion, and Faurecia said it hoped to close the Clarion deal during the first quarter of this year.

For 2019, Faurecia forecast an increase in its operating income and an operating margin of at least 7 percent.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume and Laurence Frost; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)