BERLIN — BMW beat analysts’ forecasts on Wednesday with a 42.4% enhance in third quarter internet income to 2.58 billion euros ($2.99 billion) as larger costs and robust electric vehicle (EV) gross sales offset decrease deliveries on account of scarce chips.
In an earnings name, finance chief Nicolas Peter mentioned the corporate was assured of topping its goal for a ten% margin on pre-tax earnings this 12 months, although the fourth quarter may very well be barely dampened by larger tax funds and funding prices.
Trying forward, the corporate expects sturdy EV gross sales to hold into 2022, Peter mentioned.
Whereas rising uncooked materials costs impacted earnings this 12 months, the corporate’s sturdy relationship with suppliers has cushioned the blow, CEO Oliver Zipse mentioned.
“We’ve got all the time had good oversight over our provide chain. That’s paying off now — proper right down to the uncooked supplies,” Zipse mentioned.
NO CHIPS, NO PROBLEM?
Automakers from Volkswagen to Stellantis to Renault noticed dampened third quarter gross sales on account of scarce chip provide, with consultancy BCG reporting in September it anticipated a complete of 10 million to 11 million fewer automobiles to be produced worldwide this 12 months due to the scarcity.
However luxurious producers like BMW and rival Daimler, which had been capable of increase costs to offset losses, fared higher than others, with each corporations reporting an EBIT margin of seven.8% within the third quarter, outstripping Volkswagen’s 4.9%.
BMW’s deliveries fell 12.2% within the third quarter however revenues had been nonetheless up by 4.5%. EVs specifically noticed a major increase, with gross sales within the 9 months to September nearly double final 12 months’s ranges at just below 232,000 autos.
“A greater product combine and good worth setting of new vehicles alongside a steady pricing pattern of used autos strengthened the monetary efficiency of the enterprise,” an organization assertion mentioned.
Nonetheless, Peter mentioned the dearth of chips was “not at all a blessing” because of the tens of 1000’s of automobiles the corporate might have bought however couldn’t produce.
The finance chief mentioned earlier this 12 months the corporate anticipated to ship as much as 90,000 fewer automobiles in 2021 due to a scarcity of chips.
BMW maintained its full-year EBIT margin forecast of 9.5% to 10.5% for its automotive division, including this objective can be achieved via barely decreasing the variety of workers.
“We’re on observe for our full-year forecast and are wanting ahead,” Peter mentioned. “We count on that semiconductor provide can be in a problem for us past 2021.”
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