BMW Rakes In Best Year In Corporate Earnings History Ever

BMW must be doing something right according to its record sales volume, revenues and earnings in 2011 that binges on the success of the M5, MINI and Rolls Royce.

2011 has been good for BMW who announced its best year ever with sales volume, revenues and earnings records. The group overall revenues increased in one year by 13.8% to over $91 million, with profit before tax rises to $9.7 billion.

Financially Speaking. Earnings for BMW have been good last year, which mean good news for stockholders. Profit before tax rose by 52.1% to 97 million in 2011, whereas 2010 delivered $6,44 million. As far as profit before financial result that rose by 56.9% to $10,641million compared to the $6,783 million for 2010. The group’s net profit jumped 51.3% to $6,51 million, compared to the $4.3 million for 2010. All in all, the total number of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce cars delivered to customers increased by 14.2% and hit a new record figure of 1,668,982 units compared to 1,461,166 units for 2010.

Stocks Going Up. The obvious benefits will go to those stockholders. BMW’s Group Board of Management and the Supervisory Board will propose at the Annual General Meeting for shareholders on 16 May 2012 a dividend increase to a new level high of $3.40, compared to its $1.72 for 2010.

The overall automotive segment also reported record figures for 2011, with revenues increasing by 16.8% and profit before financial result jumping by 71.7%. BMW is exceeding its own predictions of new sales volume record in 2011 registering a 12.8% rise to 1,380,384 units sold compared to 1,224,280 units in 2010.

M3 Slows Down. M5 Leads The Way. The M3 series hit a dip in sales with only 384,464 units sold compared to 399,009 units in 2010. That is a -3.6% drop despite the model change. On the flip side, the BMW 5 Series jumped 39.4% to 332,501 units compared to 238,454 units in 2010. The BMW 6 Series sales increased to 60.7% to 9,396 units compared to 5,848 units sold in 2010. To be fair, BMW launched the new Convertible in spring 2011 and the new Coupé later in the fall.

BMW 7 Series, Steady As She Goes. The BMW 7 Series continued its steady rise by reaching 68,774 units compared to 65,814 units 2010, an increase of 4.5% over the previous year.

BMW X Family. The BMW X family series also continues a steady climb with the BMW X1 up 26.4% with 126,429 units, compare to 99,990 units in 2010. The BMW X3 did particularly well with more than double sales volume, 117,944 units, compared to 46,004 units in 2010. The BMW X5 had a modest climb of 2.6% to 104,827 units compared to the 102,178 units sold in 2010.

Where’s The Mini? The MINI brand led the high sales volume in 2011 with a total of 285,060 units sold, compared to the 234,175 in 2010. That is 21.7% increase compared to the previous year. The MINI Countryman performed particularly well, with a more than six fold sales increase to 89,036 units, compared to the 14,337 units in 2010. The MINI Coupé launched in September 2011 recorded a sales volume of 3,799 units so far.

Rolls Royce Cruises High Up. Rolls-Royce numbers were particularly good in 2011 with the best sales volume figure ever recorded in its 107-year history. 3,538 cars were sold last year, compared to 2,711 in 2010. That’s over 30.5% increase.

BMW Motorcycles. BMW motorcycles fared well last year with 3.1% rise.

Those are all good numbers for the Bavarian carmaker. It is interesting to see that its traditional run of the mill BMW have slowed down somewhat, probably reflecting a cooler economy and a clientele mindful about its spending. The numbers to watch out for clearly point to three different venues. The MINI brand does well, and if not too diluted in the next few years, could continue to propel the German carmaker upward. The M5 series took the lion’s share, eclipsing the smaller M3. This is interesting as it shows a trend towards performance sedans away from 2-doors. Finally, BMW did a good job with Rolls Royce despite original concerns, at least on paper. BMW had a volume and sales number in 2011 and looks to perform as well for this fiscal year.