German top-of-the-range car maker BMW said it achieved record sales and earnings and plans to pay an increased dividend to shareholders.
“With its fourth straight record year, the BMW group’s strong performance continued during the past year despite a challenging economic environment worldwide,” said chief executive Norbert Reithofer.
“In 2013 we achieved new highs for sales volume and profit and have thereby reached the targets we set ourselves for the full year,” he boasted.
BMW said its net profit rose by 4.5% to €5.34bn ($7.5bn) in 2013.
Pre-tax profit was up 1.4% at €7.913bn.
Revenues slipped by 1.0% to €76.058bn, but unit sales jumped by 6.4% to a record 1.964mn vehicles, with all three brands—BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce—”registering all-time highs.”
BMW said it would increase its dividend payment so as to “share its success with shareholders.”
The management board would propose raising the payout on common shares to 2.60 euros apiece from 2.50 euros last year, and 2.62 euros on preference shares.
Looking ahead, BMW said it was “striving to increase worldwide sales volume further in 2014.”
