BMW Reports Weak Q4 Profit as Revenues Decline

BMW reports a significant drop in profitability in Q4. Net profit fell 40.9%, raising concerns among investors about future performance.

Date: 14-03-2025

AI Rating: 4

**Earnings Performance**: BMW reported a net profit of 1.55 billion euros, reflecting a substantial drop of 40.9% compared to 2.61 billion euros from the previous year. The earnings per share (EPS) also decreased to 2.41 euros, down 36.1% from 3.77 euros last year. **Revenue Decline**: The company reported revenues of 36.42 billion euros, representing a 15.2% decrease from 42.97 billion euros a year earlier. This decline in revenue is primarily attributed to lower Automotive deliveries, which dropped by 2.9% to 696,697 units. In contrast, motorcycle deliveries increased by 5.9%, reaching 46,949 units. **Profit Margins**: The profit before financial results (EBIT) fell sharply by 57.3% to 1.88 billion euros from 4.41 billion euros a year ago, indicating severe challenges in maintaining profitability. The earnings before tax (EBT) margin also witnessed a decline, slipping 2.8 percentage points to 5.8% compared to 8.6% in the prior year. **Dividends and Buybacks**: The company's Board proposed a reduced dividend of 4.30 euros per share for common stock and 4.32 euros per share for preferred stock, which is down from last year's dividends of 6.00 euros and 6.02 euros, respectively. They also plan to seek authorization to buy back an additional 10% of shares over the next five years, indicating a strategy to return capital to shareholders despite current challenges. **Future Outlook**: For fiscal 2025, BMW anticipates Group earnings before taxes to remain at the previous year's level, with the EBIT margin for the Automotive segment projected between 5.0% and 7.0%. This guidance also considers the anticipated impacts of tariff increases that will become effective by March 12. The mixed signals in revenue and earnings may suggest caution for investors moving forward.

Stocks: BMW.L BAMXF.PK BAMXY.PK