German automajor BMW Group reported Thursday higher profit in its fourth quarter as strong demand boosted its revenues. Meanwhile, net earnings in fiscal 2023 were lower, and the firm trimmed its dividend.

For fiscal 2024, the company projects slight decrease in earnings before tax for the Group, and an Automotive EBIT margin of 8-10 percent, compared to prior year’s 9.8 percent.

In Germany, BMW shares were trading at 105.26 euros, down 1 percent.

Walter Mertl, member of the Board of Management responsible for Finance, said, “We continue to focus on cost discipline and sustainable profitability – the long-term target range of 8-10 percent for EBIT margin in the Automotive Segment remains our benchmark.”

BMW Group also expects to see a slight increase in deliveries in the Automotive Segment in 2024.

Following a successful 2023, in which the Automotive Segment reported its highest-ever operating result, BMW Group aims to continue on its profitable growth course in fiscal 2024. Fully-electric vehicles or BEVs and models from the upper premium segment are expected to remain the main growth drivers again in the new year. In both segments, the company expects to see significant double-digit growth.

In the first two months of the year, sales of fully-electric vehicles increased by a significant double-digit percentage.

In the Automotive Segment, deliveries of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles are projected to be slightly higher than the previous year amid a slight increase in demand, full availability of new models and the upcoming model launches.

The stable demand situation is also reflected in the Motorcycles Segment. The EBIT margin is projected to be within the target range of 8-10 percent with slightly higher deliveries.

Further, the Board of Management and Supervisory Board will propose a dividend of 6.00 euros per share of common stock, and 6.02 euros per share of preferred stock to the Annual General Meeting on May 15.

In the prior year, dividend per share of common stock was 8.50 euros, and dividend per share of preferred stock was 8.52 euros.

In its fourth quarter, BMW’s net profit grew 20.2 percent to 2.61 billion euros from last year’s 2.18 billion euros. Earnings per share were 3.77 euros, up 9.9 percent from 3.43 euros a year ago.

The pre-tax earnings grew 13.2 percent from last year to 3.68 billion euros. Earnings before financial result or EBIT was 4.41 billion euros, an increase of 26.1 percent from the prior year.

In the Automotive Segment, EBIT was 3.17 billion euros, up 8.2 percent from prior year.

Group revenues for the quarter grew 8.7 percent to 42.97 billion euros from 39.52 billion euros a year ago. Revenues were primarily driven by higher sales volumes and positive product mix effects.

Automotive revenues were 37.28 billion euros, up 7.8 percent. Financial Services’ reveneus grew 4.6 percent to 9.50 billion euros, while Motorcycles revenues fell 7 percent.

In fiscal 2023, net profit fell 34.5 percent from last year, while EBIT grew 32 percent to 18.48 billion euros, and group revenues went up 9 percent to 155.50 billion euros. A total of 2.55 million premium vehicles were delivered to customers, up 6.4 percent from the prior year.

BMW Group significantly increased its sales of fully-electric vehicles, up 74.2 percent, to over 375,000 units.

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