BMW Raises 2023 View Despite Lower 1st Half Pretax Margin

By David Sachs

BMW on Tuesday upgraded its full-year outlook, citing a solid first half and good momentum, but reported a lower pretax earnings margin in the first half.

The German high-end car company said its group pretax earnings margin was 12.6% in the first half of the year compared with 24.5% in the first half of last year. Pretax earnings for the second quarter was stable at 11.3%, BMW said.

The company's automotive segment reported an earnings before interest and taxes margin of 9.2% in the second quarter, compared with 8.2% a year ago.

BMW said that in its automotive segment, the EBIT margin for 2023 is now expected to be between 9% and 10.5% compared with the previous target of 8% to 10%. Automotive deliveries are now expected to see "solid growth" over the prior year compared with a previous outlook of "slight growth," BMW said. The company delivered 1.2 million units in the first half, it said.

Free cash flow for the automotive business is now anticipated to be more than 6 billion euros ($6.60 billion) for the full year.

BMW flagged higher expenses for suppliers as a headwind. It will report its full first-half results on Thursday.

Write to David Sachs at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2023 04:51 ET (08:51 GMT)

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