Fiat Industrial Fourth-Quarter Net Profit Up 20%

By Gilles Castonguay

MILAN--Italy's Fiat Industrial SpA (FI.MI) Thursday posted a 20% profit rise in the fourth quarter on the back of its farming equipment division, whose strength is expected to help it become more profitable in 2013.

Fiat Industrial, which houses CNH Global NV (CNH) tractors and combines and Iveco trucks, said in a statement the board had proposed to pay a dividend of 0.225 euros a share for a total of EUR275 million.

Net profit after minorities totalled EUR148 million for the quarter, beating the EUR123 million recorded for the same period last year. But it was lower than the EUR216.6 million expected by analysts, according to an average compiled from a Dow Jones Newswires poll.

Trading profit, a closely-watched indicator meaning operating profit excluding extraordinary items, reached EUR438 million from EUR395 million. It also missed expectations of EUR476.6 million.

Revenue edged up to EUR7.01 billion from EUR6.8 billion the prior year, beating the EUR6.85 billion expected by analysts.

Net industrial debt rose EUR400 million to EUR1.6 billion at the end of the year, partly due to capital expenditures.

CNH, which comprises the bulk of the results, published its numbers separately earlier in the day.

Fiat Industrial said it expected solid trading conditions across all sectors in 2013, especially at CNH.

It forecast a trading profit margin between 8.3% and 8.5%, compared with 8.1% obtained in 2012.

-Write to Gilles Castonguay at [e-mail]; Twitter: @GRCastonguay

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