(Bloomberg) -- Ferrari NV raised its 2016 profit target after third-quarter earnings beat analyst expectations on initial deliveries of the $2.1 million LaFerrari Aperta.
The company raised its forecast for full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to about 850 million euros ($941 million) from its previous target of at least 800 million euros, Ferrari said in statement on Monday. Third-quarter adjusted Ebit jumped 23 percent to 172 million euros, beating an average estimate of 144 million euros from five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The stock jumped as much as 5.8 percent, the biggest gain since February.
The company, which was spun off from Italian-U.S. manufacturer Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV at the beginning of 2016, is seeking to boost profit by widening its appeal with models such as the four-seat GTC4Lusso, while shoring up its aura of exclusivity with limited-edition vehicles like the F12tdf and the sold-out LaFerrari Aperta. Those models helped increase deliveries by 29 cars to 1,978 in the third quarter. To maintain the momentum, the Italian manufacturer is producing 350 custom-made supercars to celebrate its 70th anniversary next year.
Ferrari shares rose to as high as 48.74 euros and were up 5.3 percent at 48.53 euros at 2 p.m. in Milan trading, lifting its gain for the year to 11 percent.
The focus on elite cars for collectors helped Ferrari widen its operating profit margin to 22 percent from 19.5 percent, lending credibility to Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne's plan to increase deliveries without weakening the brand's exclusivity. Since its initial public offering last year, Ferrari has been under pressure to show that its strategy to woo the world's elite can work without the backing of a bigger player.
Third-quarter revenue rose 8.3 percent to 783 million euros as deliveries rose 15 percent in China and sales of engines to other Formula 1 teams and Fiat Chrysler-unit Maserati nearly doubled to 97 million euros.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tommaso Ebhardt in Milan at tebhardt@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net, Chris Reiter, Dan Liefgreen
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