BMW CEO sees solid 2006 financials
|
[02/28/2006] GENEVA (Reuters) - Germany's BMW (BMWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest premium carmaker, is confident it will post solid financial results in the current year, its chief executive told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
|
GENEVA (Reuters) - Germany's BMW (BMWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest premium carmaker, is confident it will post solid financial results in the current year, its chief executive told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
Shares in the company were 2.3 percent higher at 40.92 euros by 1316 GMT, making them the best performers on the German blue-chip DAX <.GDAXI> index, which was 0.3 percent lower.
"We have a comparable situation as we did have in 2005. The exchange rates are not worse, the raw material prices are not worse, so we basically have the same challenge, but we managed to cope and to compensate (for) most of those challenges in 2005," Helmut Panke said.
"We're going to have basically the same starting position with no extra burdens on top. This is why we are quite confident that we are going to have a good year also in financials in 2006," the CEO added.
He also confirmed that the company had achieved its 2005 target of earnings roughly on the same level as the previous year.
BMW's sales and marketing chief, Michael Ganal, said at the motor show earlier on Tuesday that BMW's vehicle sales growth was expected to slow in 2006 from last year's 9.9 percent increase. But he did not give a specific target.
BMW had reported late on Monday that February group unit sales, including its Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, grew by a double-digit percentage. Group vehicle sales had gained 14.6 percent in January, flattered by weak 3-Series demand in the year-earlier month ahead of the model's March 2005 relaunch.
Panke said in January that the group aimed to post another record in deliveries this year.
BMW and German rival Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) Audi (NSUG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) brand have been posting one record after another as European car buyers migrate away from the middle of the market, traditionally home to brands such as Ford (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) or GM's Opel (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), toward either premium or low-cost value nameplates.
Shares in the company were 2.3 percent higher at 40.92 euros by 1316 GMT, making them the best performers on the German blue-chip DAX <.GDAXI> index, which was 0.3 percent lower.
"We have a comparable situation as we did have in 2005. The exchange rates are not worse, the raw material prices are not worse, so we basically have the same challenge, but we managed to cope and to compensate (for) most of those challenges in 2005," Helmut Panke said.
"We're going to have basically the same starting position with no extra burdens on top. This is why we are quite confident that we are going to have a good year also in financials in 2006," the CEO added.
He also confirmed that the company had achieved its 2005 target of earnings roughly on the same level as the previous year.
BMW's sales and marketing chief, Michael Ganal, said at the motor show earlier on Tuesday that BMW's vehicle sales growth was expected to slow in 2006 from last year's 9.9 percent increase. But he did not give a specific target.
BMW had reported late on Monday that February group unit sales, including its Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, grew by a double-digit percentage. Group vehicle sales had gained 14.6 percent in January, flattered by weak 3-Series demand in the year-earlier month ahead of the model's March 2005 relaunch.
Panke said in January that the group aimed to post another record in deliveries this year.
BMW and German rival Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) Audi (NSUG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) brand have been posting one record after another as European car buyers migrate away from the middle of the market, traditionally home to brands such as Ford (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) or GM's Opel (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), toward either premium or low-cost value nameplates.
[Sourse]
celebrity gallery | travel photo | motorcycle gallery | Dine in the USA
| Share You car picture |
| Website Contents © All Rights Reserved |
Conception by Universal Studio
|