(MENAFN- AFP) Italian-US automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Tuesday beat analysts' forecasts with strongly higher first-quarter net profits driven by sales in North America and said it was on course for its full-year targets.
The results were the first as a single, unified global group following January's split from luxury unit Ferrari, now a stand-alone company.
Helped by the sale of Ferrari, FCA said it had reduced net industrial debt "significantly" in 2015 to 5 billion euros, down from the 7.7 billion at the end of 2014.
But the automaker said the total was back up to 6.6 billion by the end of March owing to seasonal and currency factors.
Net profit for the first three months accelerated to 478 millions euros ($540 million) compared to 27 million a year earlier, the carmaker said.
First-quarter revenue jumped three percent to 26.6 billion euros, albeit below expectations.
Analysts had expected profits of around 356 million euros but FCA said it had "closed on a very strong note its first full year as a single, unified global group... well in excess of our full-year guidance."
It added that, excluding Ferrari, net revenues for the year climbed 18 percent to 110.6 billion euros.
FCA, whose shares slid 1.04 in mid afternoon trading in Milan to 7.15 euros, confirmed its objectives for 2016 including targeting sales topping 110 billion euros.
North America, which saw its best annual sales since 2006, helped push worldwide shipments to 4.6 million units in line with 2015 amid strong demand for the Jeep brand.
In Asia, FCA said its performance was hit by a contraction in demand for imported vehicles in China, as well as the interruption of supply following the Tianjin port explosion last August.
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