Imark
Forumer storico
Ancora su BMW, con ulteriori dettagli...
BMW Profit Tumbles 89% on Bad-Debt Provisions, Cost of Job Cuts
By Tom Lavell
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Bayerische Motor Werke AG, the biggest luxury carmaker, reported a sharper-than-expected drop in annual profit after it spent money cutting jobs and booked charges for bad debts and slowing sales of second-hand autos.
BMW fell the most in almost four months in German trading after the Munich-based manufacturer said net income plunged 89 percent to 330 million euros ($421.8 million). Analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated profit at 1.02 billion euros.
Industrywide car sales in the U.S., BMW’s biggest market, dropped 37 percent to a 28-year low in January and slid 27 percent in Europe. The company’s revenue declined 5 percent to 53.2 billion euros last year and it recorded a fourth-quarter loss of 718 million euros before interest and taxes.
“The headline numbers look awful,” said Max Warburton, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. in London who rates the stock “outperform.”
BMW fell as much as 2.69 euros, or 12 percent, to 20.25 euros, the biggest drop since Nov. 19, and was down 4.5 percent as of 12:15 p.m. in Frankfurt. The stock has lost 2.1 percent this year, valuing the carmaker at 13.4 billion euros.
The company cut 4,000 jobs last year, prompting a charge of 455 million euros, and it will eliminate a further 1,000 posts in 2009 by not replacing people who retire or quit. The measures should shave 500 million euros from labor costs this year.
“We prepared ourselves early on and swiftly for severe business conditions,”, Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said in a statement.
BMW also took provisions throughout 2008 for bad debt and declining values of vehicles returned on lease, incurring charges of 931 million euros for the fourth quarter alone.
Dividend Maintained
The company said today it plans a dividend of 30 cents a share for the full year, down 71 percent from 2007.
“We want to pay a dividend even in difficult economic times, demonstrating both the confidence we have in our operating strength and the interest in our shareholders,” Reithofer said.
BMW’s operating cash flow fell 28 percent to 4.47 billion euros and its cash holdings increased 86 percent to 8.11 billion euros. Sanford’s Warburton said that was encouraging and unusual for the car industry last year.
BMW Profit Tumbles 89% on Bad-Debt Provisions, Cost of Job Cuts
By Tom Lavell
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Bayerische Motor Werke AG, the biggest luxury carmaker, reported a sharper-than-expected drop in annual profit after it spent money cutting jobs and booked charges for bad debts and slowing sales of second-hand autos.
BMW fell the most in almost four months in German trading after the Munich-based manufacturer said net income plunged 89 percent to 330 million euros ($421.8 million). Analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated profit at 1.02 billion euros.
Industrywide car sales in the U.S., BMW’s biggest market, dropped 37 percent to a 28-year low in January and slid 27 percent in Europe. The company’s revenue declined 5 percent to 53.2 billion euros last year and it recorded a fourth-quarter loss of 718 million euros before interest and taxes.
“The headline numbers look awful,” said Max Warburton, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. in London who rates the stock “outperform.”
BMW fell as much as 2.69 euros, or 12 percent, to 20.25 euros, the biggest drop since Nov. 19, and was down 4.5 percent as of 12:15 p.m. in Frankfurt. The stock has lost 2.1 percent this year, valuing the carmaker at 13.4 billion euros.
The company cut 4,000 jobs last year, prompting a charge of 455 million euros, and it will eliminate a further 1,000 posts in 2009 by not replacing people who retire or quit. The measures should shave 500 million euros from labor costs this year.
“We prepared ourselves early on and swiftly for severe business conditions,”, Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said in a statement.
BMW also took provisions throughout 2008 for bad debt and declining values of vehicles returned on lease, incurring charges of 931 million euros for the fourth quarter alone.
Dividend Maintained
The company said today it plans a dividend of 30 cents a share for the full year, down 71 percent from 2007.
“We want to pay a dividend even in difficult economic times, demonstrating both the confidence we have in our operating strength and the interest in our shareholders,” Reithofer said.
BMW’s operating cash flow fell 28 percent to 4.47 billion euros and its cash holdings increased 86 percent to 8.11 billion euros. Sanford’s Warburton said that was encouraging and unusual for the car industry last year.
