FCA reported a portion of its combined first quarter financial results today.
FCA reported a 12% increase in revenue in the first quarter of 2014 as it reported a trading profit of $800 million on revenue totaling $29.2 billion.
The automaker, however, reported a net loss of $400 million after special items, involving the buyout of the UAW VEBA’s stake, which wound up costing Fiat close to $5 billion. Fiat specifically lost $449 million, compared with a loss of $111 million in the same quarter in 2013.
Richard Palmer, FCA’s chief financial officer, said Chrysler pre-paid everything outstanding under the VEBA Trust note by securing a new credit facility and selling senior notes. Chrysler Group, which has helped prop up its Italian partner over the past couple of years, is expected to release a separate financial report sometime next week.
The results released Tuesday by Fiat included revenue and sales by both Chrysler and Fiat. The two companies are in the midst of consolidating their financial states in the wake of the January merger that saw Fiat SpA complete its takeover of Chrysler, which began following the company’s 2009 bankruptcy.
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FCA’s luxury brands nearly doubled in revenues with Maserati posting a four-fold increase over the first quarter of 2013.
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Overall, the increase in revenue benefited from growth in North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific, which offset the declines reported in Europe. Sales of luxury brands also increased.
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“We expect to reach investment grade metrics by 2017,” added Palmer, who also emphasized the company planned to protect its liquidity and does not expect to pay a dividend over the next five years.
The company now has about $13 billion in industrial debt and $25 billion in liquidity even without putting a value on ready assets such as Ferrari.