Fiat Group – which includes Fiat Auto passenger cars and Iveco commercial vehicles – has posted record trading profit of EUR946m for the second quarter of 2007, up 44% year on year.
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All business sectors posted positive results improved over the same period in 2006, the group said following a board meeting on Tuesday.
Net income rose 90% to EUR627m on revenues up almost 12% to EUR15.2bn, also a record. Fiat said its net debt dropped EUR404m to EUR873m.
The group confirmed its 2007 guidance at the upper end of the range, with year-end debt levels now expected to be approximately EUR600m.
The target ranges include a group trading profit of EUR2.5bn to EUR2.7bn and a group net profit of EUR1.6bn to EUR1.8bn, Reuters reported.
Fiat said trucks revenues rose 25.2% to EUR2.9bn while Fiat Group Automobiles was up 12.1% to EUR6.8bn.
Automobiles unit sales rose 12.2% to 578,700, gaining market share and reaching the highest level since Q2 2001.
Iveco commercial vehicles benefited from strong performance in western Europe and from buoyant conditions in eastern Europe and Latin America and sold the highest number of vehicles in its history, Fiat said.
Automobiles trading profit more than doubled to EUR193m (2.8% of revenues), driven by volumes and cost efficiencies. Iveco posted a 37.4% increase to EUR224m, with margins moving to 7.8% from 7.1% thanks to higher volume and prices. Components and production systems trading profit rose 39% to EUR146m on higher volumes and cost efficiencies.
Societe Generale analyst Eric-Alain Michelis told Reuters the results were “excellent”, adding: “(The profit figure for the car business) was a little lower than expected but it’s nothing to complain about.”
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