EU Antitrust Allegations to Hurt BMW Earnings – €1 Billion!

BMW stock will now come with some additional, but still expensive luggage.

BMW says that with the ongoing antitrust proceedings – Death of the Diesel – European Commission’s Ongoing Antitrust Probe Opens Formal Investigation into Possible Collusion Between Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche And VW– will negatively impact the financial results in the first quarter of 2019.

The EU Statement of Objections “leads the BMW Group to believe that it is probable (“more likely than not”) that the EU Commission will issue a significant fine. According to the International Financial Reporting Standards, this results in an obligation to recognize a provision.”

The BMW Group provision will likely exceed €1 billion. The EBIT margin in the BMW Automotive Segment for the current financial year is expected to be 1-1.5 percentage points below the previous target range of 6-8%. The guidance of the Group profit before tax for the current financial year remains unchanged (significant decrease compared to the previous year).

Harald Krüger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG.

BMW review of the Statement of Objections and the inspection of files will take some time. As a result, a final evaluation of the financial impact is currently not possible. The BMW Group will contest the EU Commission’s allegations with all legal means if necessary.