Reithofer has reason to smile after a good year, relatively, in a bad economy.
The BMW Group posted positive earnings for the financial year 2009 in the face of the ongoing Global Great Recession.
Profit before tax rose by 17.7% to €413 million compared with 2008 at €351 million.
Net profits declined, though, to €210 million from €330 million a year earlier or -36.4% due a higher effective tax rate.
This is a ten year low, and BMW stock prices have been hammered with preferred sharrs declining by two-thirds from recent highs just before the financial markets collapsed in 2008.
Revenues decreased moderately by 4.7% to €50,681 million from 2008’s €53,197 million. The dividend remains unchanged at €0.30 per share of common stock and €0.32 per share of preferred stock.
“We performed well in 2009 despite difficult market conditions worldwide. Our cost management and efficiency improvement measures had a positive impact, even though the effects of the worldwide financial and economic crisis were still being felt,” stated Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW in Munich.
“We are proposing a dividend for 2009 despite the difficult economic climate, demonstrating the confidence we have in our operating strength, and we also want our shareholders to participate in the company’s performance,” said Reithofer.
Automobile Segment Loses Money
Earnings of the automobiles segment dropped in 2009 due to lower unit sales brought about by the weak economies worldwide. The segment was able to generate a fourth-quarter profit before interest and taxes (EBIT) of €93 million.
For the full year, though, the segment recorded negative EBIT of €265 million (2008: positive EBIT of €690 million) and a loss before tax of euro 588 million (2008: profit before tax of €318 million). Revenues fell to €43,737 million (2008: €48,782 million.
In total, the BMW Group sold 1,286,310 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles in 2009; -10.4% from 2008’s 1,435,876 units.
BMW Group retains its position as the world’s leading premium manufacturer.
BMW plans to sell “more than 2 million cars and sport- utility vehicles by 2020 compared with at least 1.3 million this year,” Reithofer said today.
A total of 1,068,770 BMW brand cars (2008: 1,202,239 units, -11.1%) were sold in 2009, putting the BMW brand ahead of Mercedes-Benz in the premium segment. Sales increases were achieved by the BMW 7 Series (52,680 units/+35.7%), the BMW X6 (41,667 units/+56.8%) and the BMW Z4 (22,761 units/+26.4%).
In Germany, both 7 Series (7,439 units/+74.8%) and the BMW X5 (10,933 units/-31.9%) and X6 (4,940 units/+51.0%) finished the year as clear leaders in their segments.
Since their launch at the end of October 2009 up to the end of the year, 8,499 units of the BMW X1 and 3,052 units of the 5 Series Gran Turismo had been sold worldwide.
The Mini brand sold 216,538 units worldwide in 2009 (2008: 232,425 units or -6.8%). More than one-half of the brand’s customers (53.6%) opted for the Mini Cooper, with 26.2% selecting the Mini Cooper S and 20.2% the MINI One.
Rolls-Royce sold 1,002 motor cars (2008: 1,212 units/-17.3%) during the year, remaining the market leader in the ultra-luxury segment. Customers accepted 167 of the new Rolls-Royce Ghost model in December 2009.
The BMW Group grew strongly in the emerging markets of China (90,536 units/+37.5%), Brazil (6,398 units/+118.8%) and India (3,619 units/+24.4%), achieving new sales records in all three markets.
“We plan to grow our sales again in China, Brazil and India in the current year,” claimed Reithofer. Germany was the largest single market for the company in 2009 for its BMW and Mini brand cars, with a total of 258,012 units (2008: 284,786 units/-9.4%) sold. With 33,517 cars handed over to customers, the Mini brand recorded its most successful year in Germany to date. The BMW Group also plans to increase sales in the German market during 2010, which means it is predicting an increase market share in the premium segment.
In the United States, the BMW Group sold 241,727 vehicles (2008: 303,190 units/-20.3%) during the past year. The BMW brand, with 196,502 units sold, remained the best performing European premium brand in the USA. The BMW Group forecasts that sales will increase in the US market during the current year.
“We are heading into the new year cautiously optimistic. Our new models will provide us with a tailwind over the course of the year. We fully intend to remain the world’s leading provider of premium cars in 2010 and plan to increase sales within the single digit percentage range to over 1.3 million vehicles,” claimed Reithofer.
One of the most important model developments in 2010 is the new BMW 5 Series, which will be launched at the end of March. The new BMW X1 and BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo models – both of which were launched at the end of 2009 – will also have a positive impact on sales performance in 2010. The Mini Countryman will be introduced during the current year.