BMW has reported sharply lower profit in the second quarter, off by 32% versus last year. Revenues were also down. However, the company stuck with its guidance for the year, leaving it unchanged on what it says is sustained demand for its products.

The company said revenues were pressured by currency translation headwinds and subdued demand in China.

In the second quarter, BMW Group net profit plunged 31.9% to €1.84bn from last year's €2.71bn. Earnings per share were €2.85, down 29.6 percent from last year.

Pre-tax earnings or EBT fell 32.3% year-over-year to €2.614bn and EBIT declined 31.4% to €2.66bn.

The EBT margin was 7.7%, down from last year's 10.5%.

Revenues in the quarter dropped 8.2% to €33.9bn.

Vehicle deliveries in the quarter were flat (+0.4%) on last year at 621,477 units.

BMW said key factors influencing margin development were the situation in China (price war meant low pricing levels) and strong competition in general. It also said rising tariffs led to additional expenses in the first half of the year. As expected, the impact of this was felt in the US ‘in particular in the second quarter’.

The EBIT margin in BMW Group’s Automotive segment for the six-month period finished within the upper half of the range of 5% to 7% forecast for the year. However, BMW said the second quarter was impacted by higher customs expenses attributable primarily to additional tariffs in the US, but also to EU anti-subsidy tariffs on battery-powered electric vehicles imported from China. This, it said, reduced the EBIT margin in the Automotive segment for the second quarter by approximately 2 percentage points.