German supplier Schaeffler took a €380 million ($526 million) provision after being fined in a European Union antitrust probe.

Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes last year were unchanged at €1.41 billion, with the margin declining 0.1 percentage point to 12.7 percent of revenue, the company said in a statement today, adding that the margin in 2014 will amount to 12 percent to 13 percent of sales.

The manufacturer ranks second to Gothenburg, Sweden-based SKF AB in the global ball-bearings market. The two companies were among five bearing producers that the European Union yesterday said agreed to pay a combined €953.3 million to settle an antitrust investigation into automotive parts.

Schaeffler is struggling to reduce debt from an attempt, spearheaded by former CEO Juergen Geissinger, to buy a limited stake in fellow German supplier Continental that backfired amid the global recession of 2008.

Schaeffler has scaled back net debt to €5.9 billion at the end of December from a peak figure exceeding €10 billion.