(RTTNews) – BMW AG shares lost about five% in German industry after the luxury automaker reported a loss in the second quarter on Wednesday, compared to the previous year, as a call to hit the coronavirus pandemic hard.
Looking ahead, the company said it was cautiously positive for the time being part of the year and reaffirmed the outlook for fiscal 2020. The Group’s tax profit for the year is expected to be particularly lower than in 2019.
Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW, said, “We are now looking ahead to the second six-month period with cautious optimism and continue to target an EBIT margin between 0 and 3 percent for the Automotive segment in 2020.”
Worldwide deliveries for the Automotive segment in 2020 are likely to be significantly lower than last year.
BMW Group continues to assume that demand in all key markets will be significantly reduced in light of the coronavirus pandemic and the necessary containment measures.
The company still intends to invest more than 30 billion euros in studies and progress through 2025 with the aim of extending its leadership in terms of innovation.
At the moment, BMW recorded an after-tax loss of 212 million euros, with a profit of 1.48 million euros last year. The earlier tax loss amounted to three hundred million euros, to a tax profit of 2.05 billion euros recorded last year.
EBIT for the period was negative 666 million euros versus positive EBIT of 2.2 billion euros last year. The EBT margin fell to negative 1.5 percent from positive 8.0 percent a year earlier.
In total, the company delivered 485,464 cars in the quarter, 25.3% less than last year.
In Germany, BMW shares were trading at 55.38 euros, down 4.75 percent.