The German manufacturer of BMWs, Minis and Rolls-Royces, said deliveries had begun to recover, including in China, but the rebound would not be enough to make up for the shortfall in sales lost to the pandemic
BMW expects to make an operating profit this year despite losing $787 million in the second quarter after sales of its luxury cars slumped during coronavirus lockdowns, the company said on Wednesday.
Shares in BMW fell 3% following the results with some analysts saying they had not expected such a big loss in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT).
BMW also said its outlook did not factor in the potential impact of a second wave of COVID-19 infections, nor the prospect of a more sustained or deeper recession in its key markets.
BMW’s EBIT margin for cars slumped to minus 10.4% from 6.5% in the second quarter last year, when its operating profit came in at 2.2 billion euros (1.99 billion pounds).
It delivered 485,464 cars in the second quarter, down 25% from a year earlier.
In May, BMW warned it would post a second-quarter loss and slashed its outlook, forecasting an automotive EBIT margin of 0% to 3% for 2020 compared with 2% to 4% range it expected before the pandemic struck.
BMW Chief Executive, Oliver Zipse said in a statement:
“We are now looking ahead to the second six-month period with cautious optimism and continue to target an EBIT margin between 0% and 3% for the automotive segment in 2020.”
BMW reiterated that it expected pretax profit to be significantly below 2019 levels and for car deliveries to customers to fall significantly this year
