Fiat Chrysler almost doubles profit in fourth quarter

Italian car maker Fiat Chrysler has nearly doubled its fourth-quarter profit after implementing cost cutting measures.

The company’s net profit rose to €409m for the three months ended 31 December 2016 from €196m in the same period in 2015. Group revenues rose 1% to €29.7m for the period.

The strong fourth quarter helped bolster full year revenue up to €111bn from €110.6bn the previous year and net profit to €1.8bn from €93m.

Net industrial debt during the final quarter also had a significant impact, falling to €4.6bn at the end of December from €6.5bn at the end of September.

Diluted earnings per share for the year rose to €1.18 from €0.06.

The company forecasts revenue for 2017 to be at least €115bn and adjusted operating profit to be a least €7bn.

The share price rose 3.13% to €10.58 at 1232 GMT on Thursday.