FCA’s Pretax Profit Soars in Fourth Quarter

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV reports last year's fourth-quarter earnings before interest and taxes jumped to nearly €1.1 billion from €460 million in the same period of 2013.

Revenue, helped by strong results from its Chrysler unit in the U.S., climbed 13% to €27.1 billion. Worldwide unit sales grew 4% to 1.22 million vehicles. But quarterly net profit plunged to €420 million from €1.3 billion.

For the full year, EBIT rose 7% to €3.2 billion. Revenue gained 11% to €96.1 billion, thanks to a 15% jump to €15.3 billion in North America. Net profit in 2014 plummeted two-thirds to €632 million because of special items. Without them, profit advanced 1% to €955 million.

Worldwide vehicle shipments totaled 4.61 million last year compared with 4.35 million in 2013. North America accounted for 54% of the total. Shipments gained 5% to 1.02 million in Europe and 35% to 220,000 in Asia Pacific. Volume dropped 13% to 827,000 in Latin America.

FCA ended last year with net industrial debt of €7.7 billion, up 9% on costs associated with the Fiat-Chrysler merger. Available liquidity grew 15% to €26.2 billion.

FCA predicts it will ship between 4.8 million and 5.0 million vehicles this year, generating revenue of about €108 billion and boosting EBIT about one-third to €4.1 billion-€4.5 billion. The company expects its net income will surge more than 70% to at least €1 billion in 2015.