Ferrari NV boosted its 2020 forecasts for sales and earnings after the supercarmaker posted record deliveries, a sign that Chief Executive Officer Louis Camilleri’s model-range renewal is bearing fruit.
The Italian company launched a record five new models in 2019, including the Roma Coupe with a mid-front-mounted 620-horsepower engine, which helped the Maranello-based manufacturer boost sales over 10,000 units a year for the first time.
Camilleri, a former Philip Morris International Inc. executive, is revamping Ferrari models so the company can boost average prices of vehicles. At the same time, he is tackling a long-held goal of former Chairman Sergio Marchionne, who died in 2018: transform Ferrari into a fully fledged luxury brand.
Investors like Camiller’s strategy — Ferrari’s stock has risen more than 40% since he became CEO — though analysts say he’s clearly adopting a cautious approach on earnings outlooks for one of the world’s most iconic brands.
“It’s useful to remind people how conservative Ferrari is in guiding, above all at the beginning of the year and specifically in view of this year’s geopolitical risks such as Coronavirus and Brexit,” Massimo Vecchio, an analyst for UBI Banca, said in a note Tuesday.
Sales in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan jumped 20% in 2019. Matching that growth this year may be difficult because of the economic impact of the deadly coronavirus.
The supercar maker, controlled by the Agnelli family’s investment company Exor NV, boosted its forecast for 2020 net revenue to 4.1 billion euros ($4.1) from 3.8 billion euros previously. Adjusted earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization this year is expected to be in a range of 1.38 billion euros to 1.43 billion euros, lower than the average estimate of 1.45 billion euros by Bloomberg.
Cautious Guidance
Ferrari reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 333 million euros ($368 million), in line with analyst estimates of 331 million euros.
The shares were down 1.7% at 4:28 p.m. in Milan after rising as much as 1.9% earlier.
“We expect the shares may face some near-term pressure from the cautious 2020 guidance,” Citigroup Inc.’s Angus Tweedie said in a note after the earnings report.
Ferrari unveiled its first production-volume hybrid model last year, signaling the company’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.
“We’re very focused on reaching carbon neutrality, we are looking at alternative technologies, fuels, investing a significant amount of resources on this,” Camilleri said on a conference call with analysts.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.
