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Car production at Chrysler: Unexpectedly profitable day-to-day business
Photo: REBECCA COOK / REUTERS
The automaker Stellantis earned significantly more last year, benefiting from high sales prices and cost savings.
The net profit climbed to 16.8 billion euros and thus by a good quarter compared to the previous year, as the company announced.
Sales increased by 18 percent to 179.6 billion euros - although Stellantis with its brands such as Peugeot, Fiat, Chrysler and Opel sold around two percent fewer vehicles with 5.7 million deliveries.
Higher prices and exchange rate effects as a result of the weak euro provided the greatest impetus.
Stellantis now wants to pay a dividend of 1.34 euros per share and buy back shares for an additional 1.5 billion euros.
Stellantis was unexpectedly profitable in day-to-day operations.
Earnings before interest and taxes adjusted for special effects rose by 29 percent to 23.3 billion euros.
13 percent of sales remained as an operating profit, 1.2 percentage points more than in the previous year.
CEO Carlos Tavares had promised at least 12 percent with the forecast.
In 2023, the operating margin should at least be in double digits again.
Stellantis estimated the cost savings from the merger between PSA and Fiat Chrysler, which was completed in mid-January 2021, at 7.1 billion euros.
They were thus higher than originally planned.
For reasons of comparability, Stellantis assumes in its financial figures that the merger partners belonged together for the entirety of 2021.
The group with roots in France and Italy, but also in the USA, still does its biggest and best business in North America.
There, the operating margin rose again slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 16.4 percent.
In Europe it was 9.9 percent after 9.1 percent in the previous year.
Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall were also able to benefit somewhat from rising prices in the EU.
Stellantis did not make financial details of Opel's performance public.
mik/dpa-AFX