Bentley profit jumps 162 per cent despite lost cargo
Bentley announced its first quarter profit jumped 162 per cent even though it lost 200 cars in a shipping fire.
In the three months ended 31 March, the British luxury car maker posted a €170m (£144.4m) operating profit, while revenues went up to a total of €813m after returns per car increased 15 per cent, from €184,000 to €210,000.
Chief executive Adrian Hallmark said performance was not plagued by the company loosing 200 cars bound to the US when a cargo ship caught fire off the coast of the Azores, as the sales were recovered in April.
According Hallmark, without additional supply chain issues, the marquee could produce around 15,000 cars this year.
“The crises that we’ve had with Covid, semiconductors and now the tragedy in Ukraine have not dented customers’ willingness to invest in high luxury goods and certainly not in Bentleys,” Hallmark told Reuters. “We’re doing really well.”
The results follow a strong performance in 2021, with the company doubling its profits after a 31 per cent increase in sales, and come a day after owner Volkswagen shrugged off supply chain headwinds and stuck with its 2022 guidance.
The world’s largest car maker said it was expecting sales to continue rising between 8 and 13 per cent, with operating profit margins stationing between 7 and 8 per cent.