BMW Group has recorded a huge jump in earnings for the first quarter of 2010, with a pre-tax profit of £435.6 million.
This compares to 2009's first quarter, when the firm posted a pre-tax loss of £169.8m.
Revenue grew by 8.1 per cent to £10.67 billion (£9.869bn first quarter 2009) and the total number of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars sold increased by 13.8 per cent to 315,614 units, compared to 277,264 units in the first quarter of 2009.
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Norbert Reithofer, BMW's chairman, said: "The BMW Group has made a good start to 2010. We increased earnings significantly in the first quarter and are now back on a growth course on almost all car markets.
With demand for premium vehicles rising and the recent launch of the new BMW 5-series, BMW expects that "earnings will grow dynamically over the course of the year".
The BMW brand grew by 13.8 per cent with sales of 265,809 units, while Mini grew by 13.6 per cent to sell 49,526 units. Rolls-Royce recorded its best-ever sales performance in the first quarter, with sales up by 60.3 per cent to 279 units.
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Re: BMW's profit levels rise
You see what happens when you get rid of Bangle!