BMW Group’s net profit for Q3-2016 up 15 percent

The BMW Group, which includes BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce, reported a net profit of € 1,821 million in the third quarter of 2016 (2015: € 1,579 million), up 15.3% year-on-year (YoY).

A new record for the third quarter was set mainly due to all-time high sales of 583,499 unit, up 7.1% compared to the 545,062 units sold in the same period last year. 

The Group’s third quarter revenues rose by 4.6% to € 23,362 million (2015: € 22,345 million). Adjusted for exchange rate factors, revenues increased by 6.6%. At € 2,380 million, profit before financial result (EBIT) was slightly higher than one year earlier (2015: € 2,354 million; +1.1%). Group profit before tax (EBT) improved by 13.8% to € 2,575 million (2015: € 2,263 million). 

Nine-month sales recorded by the Group’s automotive segment rose by 6.2% to reach a new high of 1,746,638 units (2015: 1,644,810 units). The strategy of striving to achieve an evenly balanced distribution of sales worldwide continued to pay off, allowing fluctuations in individual markets to be compensated.

In the first nine months, Group revenues grew by 3.0% to € 69,229 million (2015: € 67,197 million). Profit before financial result (EBIT) edged up by 2.2% to € 7,562 million (2015: € 7,400 million). The Group profit before tax (EBT) increased by 8.8% to set a new record of € 7,741 million (2015: € 7,114 million). The net profit rose by 11.7% to € 5,411 million (2015: € 4,844 million), also marking a new record for the first nine months of a year.

Commenting on the results, Harald Krüger, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG said: “We posted new record earnings and continued to grow profitably. We are already achieving measurable success in the areas in which the entire sector is judged, namely our successful electrification strategy, with more than 100,000 electric vehicles on the roads already today, and our consistent achievement of high profitability, which enables us to finance future investments from our own resources.”

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“BMW i has always stood for a great deal more than alternative powertrains: BMW i is our ‘spearhead of innovation’, ensuring that the BMW Group maintains its pioneering technological role. We have already proved this in the field of electric mobility – and we continue to write our own success story in the fields of automated driving and digitalization,” said Krüger.

The BMW Group’s workforce grew by 3.9% YoY in the first nine months of the year. At the end of the reporting period, 126,013 people were employed worldwide (2015: 121,316 people).

Financial targets for 2016

The BMW Group reaffirms its targets for the full year. “We forecast slight increases and hence new record figures for Automotive segment sales volume and profit before tax in 2016,” stated Krüger.

The Automotive segment revenues are set to grow slightly over the year, on the back of increased sales volumes. The segment’s EBIT margin in 2016 is forecast to remain within the targeted range of between 8 and 10%.

The BMW Group expects the Motorcycles segment to continue its upward trend for the remainder of the current year. The new R NineT Scrambler and G 310 R models have given the product portfolio additional breadth and are attracting new customer groups. A “solid” year-on-year increase in sales volume is forecast for the full year.

Forecasts for the current year are based on the assumption that worldwide economic and political environment will not change significantly.