BERLIN (Reuters) – BMW lifted its annual profit margin forecast to between 9.5% and 10.5% from 7% to 9%, the company said in an ad hoc statement on Thursday, as higher prices for new and used vehicles outweigh the effect of supply chain issues.
The carmaker also lifted its forecast for return on equity of financial services segment to 20%-23% from 17%-20% and said it expects free cash flow in its automobile segment of approximately 6.5 billion euros.
“Whilst the semiconductor supply restrictions are expected to further impact production and deliveries to customers in the coming months, BMW AG expects that the continuing positive pricing effects for both new and pre-owned vehicles will overcompensate these negative sales volume effects in the current financial year,” the company said.
BMW is due to report results on November 3.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee)