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Italy’s Ferrari raced to record profits in 2017

Ferrari said on Thursday that 2017 was "another record year" for the Italian luxury car maker, as it is raced into the pole position for increased profitability and output again this year and a further reduction in its debt.

Italy's Ferrari raced to record profits in 2017
Ferrari enjoyed another record year of profit in 2017. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP

Ferrari said in a statement that its net profit jumped by 34 percent to €537 million last year, outpacing analysts' expectations.

Underlying or adjusted operating profit sped ahead by 18 percent to €1.036 billion and revenues grew by 10 percent to €3.417 billion as the number of cars delivered rose by 4.8 percent to 8,398.

Investors feted the numbers, with Ferrari's shares shifting up 4.8 percent to €100.70 on the Milan stock exchange.

Previously part of the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler (FCA) group, Ferrari – which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year – went independent two years ago and has been listed in New York Stock since October 2015 and in Milan since January 2016.

Ferrari's cars usually sell for around €150,000, but the price tag can be higher than €1 million for limited-series models.

The Europe, Middle East and Africa region is the biggest market for Ferrari cars and shipments to this region increased by 4 percent to 3,737 vehicles. Unit sales in the Americas rose by 5 percent to 2,811. Sales to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were stable at 617 cars, and shipments to the rest of the Asia-Pacific region jumped by 12 percent to 1,233.

Looking ahead to the current year, Ferrari is forecasting producing more than 9,000 vehicles and revenues in excess of €3.4 billion.

Adjusted operating profit is projected to come out at €1.1 billion or higher, and the carmaker is planning to bring down its debt to below €400 million from €473 million euros at the end of December and €653 million the year before.

Further ahead, Ferrari is planning to lift adjusted operating profit to €2 billion by 2022 at latest and to cut its debt to zero by 2021.

BUSINESS

France’s EDF hails €10billion profit, despite huge UK nuclear charge

French energy giant EDF has unveiled net profit of €10billion and cut its massive debt by increasing nuclear production after problems forced some plants offline.

France's EDF hails €10billion profit, despite huge UK nuclear charge

EDF hailed an “exceptional” year after its loss of €17.9billion in 2022.

Sales slipped 2.6 percent to €139.7billion , but the group managed to slice debt by €10billion euros to €54.4billion.

EDF said however that it had booked a €12.9 billion depreciation linked to difficulties at its Hinkley Point nuclear plant in Britain.

The charge includes €11.2 billion for Hinkley Point assets and €1.7billion at its British subsidiary, EDF Energy, the group explained.

EDF announced last month a fresh delay and additional costs for the giant project hit by repeated cost overruns.

“The year was marked by many events, in particular by the recovery of production and the company’s mobilisation around production recovery,” CEO Luc Remont told reporters.

EDF put its strong showing down to a strong operational performance, notably a significant increase in nuclear generation in France at a time of historically high prices.

That followed a drop in nuclear output in France in 2022. The group had to deal with stress corrosion problems at some reactors while also facing government orders to limit price rises.

The French reactors last year produced around 320.4 TWh, in the upper range of expectations.

Nuclear production had slid back in 2022 to 279 TWh, its lowest level in three decades, because of the corrosion problems and maintenance changes after
the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hinkley Point C is one of a small number of European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) worldwide, an EDF-led design that has been plagued by cost overruns
running into billions of euros and years of construction delays.

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