Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV reported a 40% drop in fourth quarter profit as one-time items cut into the Italian-American vehicle maker’s bottom line.
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Net profit from continuing operation, excluding Ferrari, fell to 196 million euros from 336 million euros a year ago. According to the automaker, the quarterly results were stronger than its expectations.
The automaker posted a charge of more than $9.6 million during the final quarter of 2015 to cover the costs related to realigning the production in North America and an $827 million charge related to higher costs of recalls.
It said it expects operating earnings (adjusted earnings before interest and tax) to rise above €5 billion in 2016 from the €4.79 billion registered in 2015.
The company wanted to continue to have a US presence for those cars with partners, Marchionne said on a conference call to update Fiat Chrysler’s five-year plan through 2018. The shares closed down -0.19 points or -2.61% at $7.1 with 93,90,843 shares getting traded.
However, the company said in reporting its financial results Wednesday that its adjusted net profit was up 91 percent to €2.0 billion. The business had revenue of $27.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.85 billion.
Fiat Chrysler has been the worst-performing major carmaker so far this year, shedding 20 percent of its value since December 30, the last trading day before the Ferrari spinoff was completed.
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After the Ferrari spin-off, net industrial debt stands at 5 billion euros, while liquidity marginally declined to 24.6 billion euros.
