by Gilles Guillaume and Giulio Piovaccari
Paris/Milan (Reuters) – Stellantis announced Wednesday to aim for a return of the growth of its sales and its generation of cash in 2025 on Wednesday after a year of crisis marked by heavy operational difficulties in the United States and Europe which caused its results and its actions falling and led it to separate from its general manager Carlos Tavares.
The automaker is planning this year, this year is increasing its net turnover growth as well as free industrial free cash flows – in the second half, he said in a presentation medium – but this referral has not completely reassured investors in a context of increased Chinese competition, new American customs barriers and the hardening of European regulations on CO2 emissions.
In the first exchanges, the action Stellantis lost 5.6%, the higher decrease in the main values ​​of the Milan Stock Exchange. In a note, Jefferies analysts point to “the pessimistic forecasts” which accompanied the publication of the results.
“We remain determined to gain market share and improve our financial performance throughout 2025,” said Stellantis president John Elkann, at the group’s operational controls to the appointment of a new managing director.
This process is underway and should be finalized in the first half, added the manufacturer, who proposed a dividend 0.68 euros per share for the past financial year, much lower than the 1.55 euros in the previous year.
Marge has a figure
The manufacturer born in 2021 of the merger of PSA and FCA does not yet provide for a frank improvement in its profitability this year, with an operating margin target adjusted around 5%, overall stable compared to the 5.5% of 2024.
This level of margin, far from the two -digit records displayed several years in a row under the Tavare era – and the 12.8% of 2023 – is part of the fork targeted by Stellantis during its spectacular September warning on its results.
“It is always very difficult to straighten the bar in a automotive company. Replacing the product range and changing the price policy to make it attractive to customers is a long and expensive process,” write Citi analysts in a note.
Stellantis reported for 2024 net turnover down 17% to 156.9 billion euros and a net profit in free fall from 70% to 5.5 billion euros.
The group was hit hard by a drop in sales and swelling in stocks, mainly in the United States, its most profitable market, the absence of certain models and too high prices having scared a number of long-standing customers.
To straighten its American activities, Stellantis had to reduce production and offer large discounts, amputating its profitability and erasing several billion euros in market capitalization.
After a peak around 27 euros in early 2024, the Stellantis action had affected its lowest level since July 2022 under 12 euros just after the departure of Carlos Tavares.
10 new launches
Reflecting the multiple difficulties he encountered in 2024, the industrial cash flow was negative up to six billion euros, a hemorrhage especially recorded in the second half.
The operational profit has suffered from the slowdown in factories, following destocking and slowdown in sales, but also a new provision of 768 million euros linked to the recall of cars equipped with defective Takata airbags in Europe, South America and the Middle East.
This estimated invoice, which is added to the 941 million already provisioned by the group since 2022 to now reach a total potential of 1.7 billion, notably reflects the extension of Citroën C3 and DS3 reminders in northern Europe, and no longer only on the southern part.
The group said they remedied the absence of certain models in its product offer, which has weighed on its market share in the United States and Europe, and now corrected stocks on the American market.
It also counts on its ten new launches scheduled in 2025 and its four multi-energy vehicle architectures, now in battle order.
(Report Gilles Guillaume and Giulio Piovaccari, with Clément Martinot and Federica Mileo, edited by Kate Entringer)
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