Higher sales boost BMW earnings in 2023

FRANKFURT, Germany: German luxury carmaker BMW said on Thursday it had met its 2023 targets after pretax profits were boosted by improved sales, with electric vehicles “a key growth driver.”

The group said it delivered more than 2.5 million cars last year, 6.4 percent more than a year ago.

Group revenues rose by 9 percent to 155.5 billion euros ($170 billion).

The BMW group, which also includes the Rolls-Royce and Mini brands, “achieved its business objectives” for 2023 “despite strong competition and volatile conditions,” the company said in a statement.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) soared by 32 percent to 18.5 billion euros.

Net profit, however, plunged by more than 34 percent to just over 12 billion euros due to a one-off accounting effect linked to the full consolidation of BMW’s Chinese joint venture BBA.

Without that one-time impact, net profit “would have been higher year-on-year,” BMW said.

Deliveries of fully electric cars jumped by 74 percent to more than 375,000, accounting for around 15 percent of total sales, as the industry-wide shift toward lower-emissions vehicles gathers pace and competition heats up.

While the company said it had seen “high demand for its products” overall, its “range of fully electric vehicles was a key growth driver” in 2023.

BMW said it planned to pay shareholders a dividend of 6 euros per share, down from 8.50 euros the year before but slightly more than analysts had expected.

The group will unveil its detailed full-year results on March 21.

“We posted strong growth and substantially increased our percentage of fully-electric vehicles, while improving our operational profitability,” said Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse.

“We are advancing forward with our course offering our customers the newest innovations and the latest technology, regardless of the vehicle’s powertrain,” he added.