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Ferrari expects at least 1 billion euros profit in 2020

Daniele Lepido
Bloomberg

Ferrari NV narrowed the range of its full-year profit guidance toward the lower end after the supercar-maker was forced to shutter factories for seven weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ferrari, controlled by the Agnelli family’s investment company, Exor NV, now sees adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of between 1.075 billion euros ($1.27 billion) and 1.125 billion euros in 2020, the company said Monday. That compares with the forecast of between 1.05 billion euros and 1.2 billion euros issued in May.

The luxury carmaker’s decision to adjust the range – after slashing it earlier this year – shows that even the world’s most iconic brands are feeling the pressure. Still, the maker of expensive, high-performance automobiles has performed better than producers of more mundane passenger vehicles, which have seen sales plummet. Ferrari remains confident of a bounce-back in the second half of the year thanks to its strong order book.

The shares advanced 2.1% as of 1:56 p.m. in Milan. Ferrari, along with Tesla Inc., is one of the few automakers whose shares have risen this year.

The Italian company, which paid employees in full during the lockdown, reported second-quarter adjusted Ebitda of 124 million euros, in line with analysts’ estimates of 123.5 million euros. Sales totaled 571 million euros, compared with the 574.4 million-euro estimate. Net income was 9 million euros, above the 2.3 million euros predicted by analysts.

Shipments fell by almost half to 1,389 from the year-earlier quarter, impacted by the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ferrari suspended production and dealers were shut down during the first part of the period. The impact on suppliers also forced it to delay the full production of its next profit-spinner, the SF90 Stradale.

Ferrari now sees full-year revenue of more than 3.4 billion euros, compared with previous guidance of 3.4 billion euros to 3.6 billion euros.

The company introduced a record five new models in 2019, including the Roma Coupe, with a mid-front-mounted 620-horsepower engine. That helped it boost sales to more than 10,000 units a year for the first time.