German luxury car maker BMW AG Wednesday reported higher profit and deliveries in its third quarter, while revenues were weak. Looking ahead for fiscal 2020, the company continues to project significantly lower Group profit before tax. BMW shares were losing around 1 percent in German trade.
BMW Group expects the Automotive segment EBIT margin to lie within a range between 0 and 3 percent in 2020, and Motorcycles segment EBIT margin within a range between 3 and 5 percent.
For the year, BMW continues to assume significantly lower demand in all key markets due to the coronavirus pandemic and the necessary containment measures. Automotive segment deliveries would be significantly lower than in the previous year. Motorcycles segment deliveries would decrease moderately year-on-year.
Regarding its e-mobility ramp-up, the company said all four German automotive plants will be manufacturing all-electric vehicles in the foreseeable future. From 2022, BMW Group's plant Dingolfing will have the capacity to manufacture electric motors for up to 500,000 electrified vehicles per year.
Battery modules and high-voltage batteries will be manufactured at the Leipzig and Regensburg plants to supply the growing number of electrified vehicles.
By the end of 2021, the company plans to offer five all-electric, series-produced automobiles, while by 2023, it intends to have 25 electrified models on the road - 13 of them all-electric versions.
BMW still plans to invest more than 30 billion euros in research and development by 2025.
For the third quarter, net profit was 1.815 billion euros, up 17.4 percent from 1.55 billion euros a year ago. Earnings per share were 2.71 euros, compared to 2.31 euros last year.
Profit before tax rose 9.6 percent to from last year to 2.46 billion euros.
Third-quarter Group revenues were 26.28 billion euros, down 1.4 percent from 26.67 billion euros a year ago. Automotive segment revenues were 21.96 billion euros, a decline of 4.6 percent. BMW Motorrad revenues went up 14.2 percent.
In the third quarter, the company delivered a total of 675,592 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles, up 8.6 percent from last year's 621,981 vehicles.
BMW brand deliveries grew 9.8 percent to 585,239 units, and MINI deliveries increased 1.9 percent, while Rolls-Royce deliveries dropped 9.5 percent.
BMW Motorrad increased deliveries of its motorcycles and maxi-scooters by 20.9 percent to 52,892 units.
In Germany, BMW shares were trading at 61.74 euros, down 0.61 percent.
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