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Fiat debt mars strong results
FIAT beat expectations for second-quarter trading profit yesterday, helped by tax breaks for drivers trading in older, polluting cars, but its efforts to cut debt disappointed.
Europe’s sixth-biggest car maker, which owns 20 per cent of US firm Chrysler, said trading profit for the quarter was €310m (£268m) after a loss of €48m in the first quarter.
Fiat cut net industrial debt to €5.7bn from €6.6bn in the period, mainly by selling down stocks. It also confirmed its targets for a 2009 trading profit of more than €1bn and year-end net debt of less than €5bn.