BMW’s first-quarter earnings bounced back more strongly than expected from a pandemic-ravaged first three months of last year, the company said, helped by higher prices and strong Chinese demand.
In an unscheduled release on Monday, the company said its group earnings before tax surged 370 percent to 3.76 billion euros ($4.53 billion), according to preliminary figures, with sales growing in all major regions and across brands.
Earnings before interest and taxes from automotive operations rose to 2.24 billion euros ($2.7 billion).
BMW noted particular strength in China, as well as positive price developments and high demand for used cars and added earnings had exceeded market expectations.
German rival Daimler said last week soaring Chinese demand for luxury Mercedes-Benz cars and higher prices drove a better-than-expected profit in its first quarter.
BMW will report full first-quarter earnings on May 7.
BMW expects returns from automaking to more than double this year to between 6 percent and 8 percent. It said its first-quarter operating margin in the carmaking unit rose to 9.8 percent from 1.3 percent.
While gloom from the pandemic has started to lift, automakers’ concerns have shifted to supply chain issues with the global chip shortage continuing to plague production.
BMW has so far avoided the turmoil that has stopped output at plants around the world.
The company previously said it increased semiconductor orders last spring after Asian markets recovered but has said it still needs to work hard at securing enough of the parts.
Executives have said they are confident to avoid production outages in the second quarter.
Bloomberg contributed to this report