Iveco Defence spin-off by the end of the year, first quarter revenues down 10%.

Iveco is working to explore 'preliminary expressions of interest from potential strategic buyers', is the premise of the note accompanying the first quarter results for the Milan-listed group controlled by Exor. Iveco faced a sharp drop in the truck market and saw production in Europe fall by about a third from January to March, partly due to the transition to the new generation of vehicles.

Iveco Group ended the first quarter with falling net profits and declining revenues. The company, however, confirmed the outlook for 2025, which forecasts adjusted EBIT between €980m and €1.03bn and net revenues from industrial activities stable compared to 2024. The group reported a net profit of €38m, 72.2% lower than the €137m for the same period in 2024, and adjusted net profit of €84m, with adjusted diluted earnings per share of €0.31 (down from €0.57 and above the €0.29 expected by consensus).

Olof Persson

Consolidated revenue came in at EUR 3.036bn (from EUR 3.36bn), down 10.1% and below the consensus-expected EUR 3.19bn. Revenues from industrial operations were 2.958 billion (from 3.283 billion in 2024) and adjusted EBIT was 152 million (from 233 million and below consensus by 172 million) with a margin of 5%, compared to 6.9% in Q1 2024. The Truck segment recorded a 16% drop in revenue.

"I am proud of our organisation's decisive response and long-term focus. We made difficult decisions quickly, adjusting production levels and realigning inventories, both within the company and throughout the sales network," emphasises CEO Olof Persson. Iveco Group reports that it has concluded the phase-out of previous models and completed the introduction of our new Model Year 2024 in light commercial vehicles. "These actions had a short-term impact on the financial figures, in terms of margins and free cash flow, but were absolutely necessary to put us in a solid position for the rest of the year," explains Olof.

Among the positive notes on the sidelines was the order trend in Europe and Latin America, both for light and heavy vehicles. "Our order-to-sales ratio was well above 1 in Europe for the first time since Q1 2023. This was achieved thanks to proactive measures to adjust production capacity and realign sales network inventories. We are increasing our production pace and are well positioned to seize any future opportunities,' explains the CEO.