Stellantis posts 20 billion euro second-half loss after 'over-estimating' EV transition

By Giulio Piovaccari and Gilles Guillaume

MILAN, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Stellantis on Thursday reported a net loss of 20.1 billion euros ($23.8 billion) for the second half of 2025, after multi-billion euro charges the automaker booked earlier this month to reflect its scaled-back electric-vehicle ambitions.

The huge loss, in line with preliminary ranges provided three weeks ago, underscores how auto groups globally are taking a hit from a slower-than-expected and more complex shift from petrol-engine cars to electric vehicles, as both the United States and Europe water down EV targets.

The Jeep-to-Peugeot maker said it had booked a total of 25.4 billion euros in writedowns last year, including 22.2 billion euros for the second half it announced on February 6, sending its shares tanking.

OVER-ESTIMATED EV TRANSITION

This led to 2025 results "reflecting the cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition," Chief Executive Antonio Filosa said on Thursday in a statement.

In the second half, Stellantis booked an adjusted operating loss of 1.38 billion euros, also in line with the preliminary estimate.

Net revenues were however up 10% year-on-year in the July-December period to 79.25 billion euros, with an encouraging 11% increase in vehicle shipments over the six months.

Analysts at Citi said this set of results was an "obvious low point" for Stellantis.

"Whilst we could foresee some sort of sentiment recovery in Stellantis at some stage, we see better quality and less risk in other European (and US) OEMs," they said in a note.

Milan-listed shares were down 0.3% by 0920 GMT, slightly underperforming Italy's blue-chip index, after they have already lost about 20% since the announcement of the EV-related impairments.

Shares in the automaker, created in January 2021 through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA, hit their record-low of 5.73 euros on February 6 and are down 30% so far this year.

The writedowns - also caused by vehicle quality problems that Filosa attributed to cost-cutting under former boss Carlos Tavares - include about 6.5 billion euros in cash payments, expected to be spread across four years from 2026.

The company on Thursday reiterated its 2026 forecasts, including a mid-single-digit percentage increase in net revenues and a low-singe-digit adjusted operating margin. It sees industrial free cash flows returning positive only in 2027.

Stellantis confirmed it would not pay a dividend this year.

The group - which traditionally sees the North American market, and the U.S. in particular, as its profit powerhouse - said it expected costs related to U.S. tariffs to rise to 1.6 billion euros this year from 1.2 billion euros in 2025.

($1 = 0.8462 euros)

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan and Gilles Guillaume in Paris, editing by Giulia Segreti and Tomasz Janowski)