Fiat SpA's 2009 results will beat the average of consensus figures from analysts, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Wednesday, and he said this year would be better even without any incentives for car buyers.
"They will be above the average; they will be better," Marchionne told reporters at an awards presentation.
He said if there were no tax breaks from the government on car sales in 2010, "we would be able to take that blow," and this year's results would still be better than 2009's.
Fiat, which owns a 20 percent stake in U.S. car maker Chrysler Group LLC, is set to publish results for the fourth quarter and year on January 25, but visibility for 2010 and 2011 remains limited ahead of a new industrial plan.
The consensus forecast for the Italian carmaker is for group trading profit of 460 million euros for the fourth quarter and just over Fiat's target of 1 billion euros for the year.
Fiat polled analysts to arrive at the consensus on January 7. But some brokers had already suggested that Fiat could beat the consensus based on Italian, Brazilian and European car sales data released since January 4.
"Sales were better than the consensus forecast, so we're expecting a net industrial debt under 5 billion euros ($7.10 billion), because working capital grew less," said an analyst. Two further analysts from leading Italian institutions agreed.
According to data from the consensus compiled by Fiat, auto trading profit should be 200 million euros and group net industrial debt should stand at 5.015 billion euros.
