Rome (AFP) – Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari posted another set of record results on Tuesday, with net profit surging to more than 1.5 billion euros last year. Chief executive Benedetto Vigna also confirmed during a conference call that Ferrari would launch its first all-electric vehicle on October 9, one of six new models introduced this year.
Profit was up 21 percent on the previous year to 1.53 billion euros ($1.58 billion), beating the 1.46 billion euros predicted by analysts surveyed by Factset. For the fourth quarter alone, net profit climbed 31 percent from the period the year before to 386 million euros, also ahead of forecasts. Revenues reached 6.68 billion euros over the full year, surpassing Ferrari’s own target of more than 6.55 billion euros.
Yet the company sold just 89 more cars compared to the previous year, with shipments increasing barely one percent to 13,752. “Quality of revenues over volumes — I believe this best explains our outstanding financial results in 2024, thanks to a strong product mix and a growing demand for personalisations,” Vigna said in the earnings statement. “On these solid foundations, we expect further robust growth in 2025, that will allow us to reach one year in advance the high-end of most of our profitability targets for 2026,” he said.
Under a strategic plan adopted in June 2022, Ferrari forecast turnover of up to 6.7 billion euros by 2026, fuelled by the launch of 15 new models over the 2023-2026 period. During the call, Vigna also revealed that many Ferrari owners come back for more. “In 2024, we sold approximately 81 percent of our new cars to existing Ferrari clients and 48 percent to clients who currently own more than one Ferrari,” he said.
Europe, the Middle East and Africa remained the company’s main markets last year, with 6,204 vehicles delivered overall, up two percent on the year. Shipments fell 22 percent to mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, to 1,162 units. They rose by five percent in the Americas, to 4,003, and by four percent to the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, to 2,383. “The geographic breakdown reflects the company’s allocation strategy to preserve the brand’s exclusivity,” Ferrari said in a statement. Ferrari had already posted a then-record net profit for 2023, up 34 percent to 1.25 billion euros.
© 2024 AFP
