LONDON (Reuters) -BMW raised its profit forecast for 2021 on Tuesday after strong quarterly results, but warned that the global semiconductor chip shortage and rising raw materials prices would impact its performance in the second half of the year.
“Our performance has benefited from strong customer demand during the first half of the year, enabling us to achieve significant growth,” Chief Executive Oliver Zipse said in a statement.
“However, in light of a number of prevailing risks, including raw materials prices and a shortage of semiconductors, the second six-month period is likely to be more volatile for the BMW Group”
BMW posted a better-than-expected profit for the second quarter on Tuesday versus a loss in the same period in 2020 when the German luxury carmaker was pummelled by the coronavirus pandemic.
The carmaker said it now expected a full-year operating margin for the automotive segment in a range from 7% to 9%, up from its previous forecast of a range from 6% to 8%.
BMW posted a net profit for the quarter of 4.8 billion euros ($5.7 billion), versus a loss of 212 million euros for the same quarter in 2020. Analysts on average had expected net income of 2.2 billion euros for the second quarter, according to Refinitiv estimates.
($1 = 0.8420 euros)
(Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Kim Coghill)
