BERLIN (Reuters) – German automaker BMW reported third-quarter earnings before interest and taxes of 2.88 billion euros ($3.33 billion) on Wednesday, beating analysts’ expectations of 2.34 billion euros, as it offset reduced deliveries with higher prices.
The company’s net profit was 2.58 billion euros, with an EBIT margin in its automotive division of 7.8%.
“A better product mix and good price setting of new vehicles alongside a stable pricing trend of used vehicles strengthened the financial performance of the business,” a company statement said.
The premium automaker saw a significant boost to its electric vehicle sales, including both fully electric and hybrid vehicles, in the first nine months of the year to nearly 232,000 vehicles, almost double as many as were sold in the same period last year.
Chip supply will remain an issue into 2022, CFO Nicolas Peter said, echoing a previous statement from CEO Oliver Zipse in September that the crisis could last up to 12 months.
($1 = 0.8636 euros)
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Editing by Miranda Murray and Shounak Dasgupta)