Investing.com -- Stellantis NV (BIT:STLAM) has posted a 27% drop in third-quarter revenue compared to the year-ago period as the Jeep-owner grapples with lower shipments, pricing headwinds, and bloated inventories.
However, in a call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Doug Ostermann flagged that inventory reduction at the company behind brands like Peugeot (OTC:PUGOY) and Fiat is "running at a faster rate than expected" in the US. He now sees inventories in the country's dealers falling by 100,000 vehicles prior to an end-of-November target.
Ostermann added that it remains "crucial" for the group to normalize its backlog of cars, particularly as it pushes to overhaul sluggish recent returns. Stellantis issued a profit warning last month due largely to weakness in its US operations.
In a note to clients, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said Stellantis' North American business is going through a phase of both production cuts and discounting.
For the three months ended in September, revenue slipped to 33 billion euros from 45.1 billion euros a year ago, although the figure still topped estimates of 31.1 billion euros, according to a poll run by Reuters. Shipments dipped by 36% in its North America region and 17% in Europe.
Shares in Stellantis, which have shed around 40% of their value so far this year, edged higher in early European dealmaking on Thursday.