Pesante ed inattesa nelle sue dimensioni la perdita operativa accusata da BMW nel Q4/2008, tale da abbattere in misura consistente l'utile operativo dell'intero 2008 rispetto a quello conseguito nell'anno precedente.
E tuttavia le misure adottate, che hanno portato a stimare perdite consistenti in conseguenza di un abbattimento del valore dei veicoli ritornati da contratti di leasing piuttosto che di valutazioni di recupero ridotte su crediti di scarsa qualità, appaiono improntate ad una politica di bilancio conservativa.
Il margine di utile operativo (EBIT margin) della produzione automobilistica cade nel 2008 all'1,4% per BMW.
Il volume delle vendite di BMW risulta nel 2008 in calo del 4,3% y-o-y.
Si paga lo scotto delle vendite spinte dal credito facile negli anni passati soprattutto su mercati quale quello USA ... ora che il tempo delle "comode rate" per tutti sembra al tramonto, gli analisti del settore automotive si starebbero interrogando, secondo la Reuters, sulle reali prospettive di crescita del segmento premium.
Prima o poi doveva succedere...
Reuters, Thursday March 12 2009
* Q4 EBIT swings to 718 million euros loss, misses forecasts
* 2008 EBIT plunges to 921 million euros vs 4.2 bln
* Proposes cutting div to 30 cents per common share
* Reiterates no plans to take Opel stake
* Shares fall as much as 12 percent (Adds Q4 details from statement, market reaction)
FRANKFURT, March 12 (Reuters) - BMW, the world's largest premium carmaker, swung to a fourth-quarter operating loss as extra provisions for falling used-car values and bad debts took their toll.
The 718 million euro ($917.4 million) operating loss was much wider than market expectations of 103 million euros and sent BMW's shares down nearly 12 percent on Thursday.
BMW said it booked an extra 931 million euros in risk provisions in the fourth quarter for falling used-car values and bad debts plus 197 million for one-off personnel expenses, such as the cost of cutting jobs, as the bottom fell out of car markets.
It proposed cutting its 2008 dividend on common stock to 0.30 euro from 1.06 euros.
"The raw numbers were not that bad but the provisions were much worse than expected," said Oliver Kammerer, analyst at WestLB.
Full-year group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell 78 percent to 921 million euros. Group provisions for weak used car prices and for bad debts were nearly 2 billion euros. Its shares pared losses to trade down 4.5 percent at 21.905 euros by 1227 GMT while the DJ Stoxx European car sector index was off 2.1 percent.
"We estimate that the bulk of (Q4) charges was related to provision for residual values. This is clearly negative with respect to our estimates of around EUR 250m and we believe that we will see further charges in FY 2009," DZ Bank analyst Jasko Terzic said.
BMW also reiterated it has no plans to take a stake in stricken U.S. carmaker General Motor's Opel unit.
BMW's core automotive division had a 2008 EBIT margin of 1.4 percent -- or 4.2 percent excluding one-offs -- far below the 8.1 percent at VW's premium brand Audi or the 4.4 percent at Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Cars division.
Demand for BMW's sporty models like the Z4 roadster withered in the last quarter of 2008, forcing the company to reveal a decline of 4.3 percent in group sales volumes last year -- its first annual drop since 1993.
Much like rival Mercedes-Benz, BMW has thrived from the debt-fuelled consumerism in markets like the United States where they aggressively pushed volumes for years with attractively priced leasing deals.
Analysts are now re-evaluating previous assumptions about the premium market's true potential, after access to easy credit has come to a screeching halt.
In addition, increasingly stringent emission requirements are putting a massive strain on R&D budgets for Mercedes and BMW and forcing the carmakers to replace heavier engines that earn fatter margins with smaller motors. (Reporting by Michael Shields, Christiaan Hetzner and Tyler Sitte; Editing by Erica Billingham)