{"id":135512,"date":"2019-04-15T15:46:28","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T19:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=135512"},"modified":"2019-04-15T15:46:28","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T19:46:28","slug":"fiat-chrysler-confidently-pays-first-ever-dividend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2019\/04\/fiat-chrysler-confidently-pays-first-ever-dividend\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiat Chrysler Confidently Pays First-Ever Dividend"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Fiat Chairman John Elkann told shareholders at the FCA annual meeting that he expected strong results in 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The top executives of Fiat Chrysler Automobile N.V. delivered an upbeat assessment of the company\u2019s future prospects during the company annual shareholder meeting in Amsterdam, agreeing to pay a dividend to shareholders for the first time since Fiat took effective control of the Chrysler Group in 2009 and brought it out of bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

In the first shareholders gathering since the death of Sergio Marchionne, FCA\u2019s longtime chief executive, it fell to John Elkann, Fiat\u2019s chairman, to deliver an optimistic forecast for 2019 despite the drop in the company\u2019s business in North America and the slowdown in the sales of Jeep, which has emerged as the company\u2019s principal brand.<\/p>\n

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Global News!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elkann, the representative of the founding Agnelli family, which has run Fiat for more than 100 years, told investors the Italo-American group was ready to play a part in the \u201cnew and exciting\u201d era for the auto industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the (fact that the) second part of 2018 included trade difficulties in some areas that persisted in the first part of this year, we forecast a significative improvement in the second half of 2019,\u201d Elkann said.<\/p>\n

(Unlikely partners: Tesla helps FCA head off massive EU fine. <\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for the story.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Elkann, who is gradually taking larger role in the company,\u00a0also said the Agnelli family was prepared to take \u201cbold and creative decisions\u201d to help build a solid and attractive future.<\/p>\n

FCA CEO Michael Manley, who took up his post last July just prior to Marchionne\u2019s death, said the group\u2019s operating performance this year would exceed the record results posted in 2018.\u00a0\u201cI am confident that we will successfully deliver on our guidance for this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that he expected continued strong performance in North America, which accounts for almost 80%\u00a0of core earnings, with higher margins compared with last year.<\/p>\n

(<\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for more about\u00a0FCA settling false filings antitrust lawsuit.<\/em><\/strong>)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Weaker margins in North America in the last quarter of 2018 raised concerns about a potential slowing demand in the United States, where FCA also faces stiff competition in the vital SUV and truck segments.<\/p>\n

Underscoring the company\u2019s optimism, the directors approved a cash dividend of 0.65 euros per outstanding common share, equivalent to an aggregate distribution of\u00a0approximately 1 billion\u00a0euros or $1.16 billion.<\/p>\n

It was the first time Fiat has paid a dividend in more than a decade and the first dividend ever paid by the combination of Fiat and Chrysler.<\/p>\n

(To see more about FCA\u00a0cutting a shift at the Canadian minivan plant,\u00a0<\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Manley also said he aimed to make dividends at FCA a regular feature after the group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The top executives of Fiat Chrysler Automobile N.V. delivered an upbeat assessment of the company\u2019s future prospects during the company annual shareholder meeting in Amsterdam, agreeing to pay a dividend to shareholders for the first time since Fiat took effective control of the Chrysler Group in 2009. Find out big a dividend at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20009,"featured_media":135515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5],"tags":[],"make":[46,49,51,54,69,82,98],"post-state":[],"category_old":[286,150,151,123,287,228,131,246,289,299,191,262,169,253,132,199,284,125,124,217,139,148,290,128,288],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135512"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=135512"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=135512"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=135512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}