Profitability at Fiat SpA improved in the third quarter, but the company’s core Fiat Auto unit performed slightly worse than expected, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
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Fiat posted a group net loss of €554 million for the quarter, compared to a €84 million loss in the same period last year but the company noted that its consolidated net loss in fact narrowed by €378 million if capital gains on the sale last autumn of its avionics unit is factored out.
The report said strong profitability at trucks unit Iveco and tractor-and-bulldozer unit CNH Global NV pushed the company to reiterate its full-year goal of operating break-even in 2004.
Fiat’s third-quarter operating loss narrowed to €997 million from €285 million in the same period last year.
Dow Jones Newswires said that Fiat Auto boosted revenue by 11% to €4.49 billion from €4.16 billion. But the car-making division cut its operating losses only slightly, to €270 million from €314 million in the third quarter of 2003. The improvement was greater on a pro forma basis as Fiat owned all of its profitable consumer finance division during part last year’s third quarter.
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By GlobalDataAnalysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires before Fiat released its results expected a group net loss of €364 million, an operating loss of €101 million and revenue of €10.19 billion. They expected a €240 million operating loss at Fiat Auto with revenue at €4.35 billion.
Truckmaker Iveco posted €76 million in operating profit in the third quarter, up from a €2 million operating loss in the same period last year, the report added.
