FRANKFURT
German luxury carmaker BMW reported a better-than-expected 27 per cent jump in quarterly pretax profit after an investment by chipmaker Intel drove up the value of its stake in mapping service HERE.
BMW also cited other positive valuation effects and improved profits from its Chinese joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive as a boost to profits, which it announced ahead of schedule on Thursday, saying the results were ahead of expectations.
Pretax profit came to 3.01 billion euros (Dh11.7 billion, $3.24 billion) in the first quarter through March, well above analyst forecasts of 2.38 billion and 2.25 billion given to Thomson Reuters estimates after taking account of the one-offs.
BMW said the value of its stake in mapping service HERE had risen by 183 million euros in connection with the participation of new investors, and its other financial results had increased by 122 million euros.
US chip giant Intel said in January it was buying 15 per cent of HERE, which is co-owned by Daimler and Volkswagen. It did not disclose how much it would pay for the stake.
BMW affirmed its guidance for a slight increase in full-year group pretax profit and an operating margin of 8 to 10 per cent at its automotive business, which posted a first-quarter margin of 9.0 per cent, down from 9.4 per cent a year earlier.
Shares in BMW jumped briefly on the news before easing back to trade 0.4 per cent lower at 83.75 euros by 1049 GMT, against a flat German blue-chip DAX index.
BMW’s sales rose 12 per cent in the quarter to 23.5 billion euros, above the average analyst forecast of 22.1 billion euros, according to Thomson Reuters estimates.
The luxury carmaker is due to publish detailed first-quarter results on May 4.
