<p>German luxury carmaker BMW said Friday that earnings rose sharply in the first three months of the current year, driven by a rebound in sales as the market recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.</p>.<p>BMW said in a statement that its bottom-line net profit quadrupled to 2.8 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in the period from January to March, from 574 million euros a year earlier.</p>.<p>First-quarter revenues were up 15 per cent at 26.8 billion euros as unit sales grew by 33 per cent to 636,606, the carmaker said.</p>.<p>"Compared to the previous year's pandemic-affected first-quarter performance, key financial figures developed positively in the first three months of the financial year 2021," the statement said.</p>.<p>"The significant recovery of the markets, which began in mid-2020, continued to gain momentum during the first three months of the year."</p>.<p>BMW said that the "greatly improved level of revenues and earnings was driven by a combination of higher sales volume figures across all regions of the world, particularly in China, and improved selling prices."</p>.<p>Looking ahead, the carmaker cautioned that the coronavirus pandemic "will continue to influence the course of business for the BMW group throughout the current financial year -- both directly and indirectly."</p>.<p>Vaccination measures being taken worldwide should, however, have a positive effect on the situation and increasingly reduce the adverse impact of the pandemic on global economic growth, it said.</p>.<p>"Nevertheless, negative consequences for the BMW group cannot be ruled out in the further course of the year," the statement said.</p>.<p>Furthermore, rising raw materials prices could weigh on earnings.</p>.<p>"In light of the current dynamic environment, the BMW group reaffirms its outlook for the full year, expecting business performance continuing to develop positively," it said.</p>.<p>Pre-tax profit was expected "to rise significantly during the outlook period," BMW said.</p>
<p>German luxury carmaker BMW said Friday that earnings rose sharply in the first three months of the current year, driven by a rebound in sales as the market recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.</p>.<p>BMW said in a statement that its bottom-line net profit quadrupled to 2.8 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in the period from January to March, from 574 million euros a year earlier.</p>.<p>First-quarter revenues were up 15 per cent at 26.8 billion euros as unit sales grew by 33 per cent to 636,606, the carmaker said.</p>.<p>"Compared to the previous year's pandemic-affected first-quarter performance, key financial figures developed positively in the first three months of the financial year 2021," the statement said.</p>.<p>"The significant recovery of the markets, which began in mid-2020, continued to gain momentum during the first three months of the year."</p>.<p>BMW said that the "greatly improved level of revenues and earnings was driven by a combination of higher sales volume figures across all regions of the world, particularly in China, and improved selling prices."</p>.<p>Looking ahead, the carmaker cautioned that the coronavirus pandemic "will continue to influence the course of business for the BMW group throughout the current financial year -- both directly and indirectly."</p>.<p>Vaccination measures being taken worldwide should, however, have a positive effect on the situation and increasingly reduce the adverse impact of the pandemic on global economic growth, it said.</p>.<p>"Nevertheless, negative consequences for the BMW group cannot be ruled out in the further course of the year," the statement said.</p>.<p>Furthermore, rising raw materials prices could weigh on earnings.</p>.<p>"In light of the current dynamic environment, the BMW group reaffirms its outlook for the full year, expecting business performance continuing to develop positively," it said.</p>.<p>Pre-tax profit was expected "to rise significantly during the outlook period," BMW said.</p>