Earnings

Chrysler to take $906M charge on production changes

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will take a $906 million charge related to North American production changes.

The expense includes $650 million for asset impairment, while the remainder will go to expected downtime at certain plants.

Fiat Chrysler also reported better-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter operating profit as strong results from North America and improving operations in Europe offset weakness in Latin America and Asia.

Fiat Chrysler Auto assembly workers leave the Fiat Chrysler Warren Truck Assembly plant during a work shift change in Warren, Michigan.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

The world's seventh-largest carmaker said adjusted operating profit for the October-December period rose to 1.64 billion euros ($1.78 billion) from 1.18 billion the previous year and compared with an analyst consensus forecast of 1.3 billion euros. Sales rose percent to 30.1 billion euros from 27.1 billion, above expectations.

The fourth-quarter numbers still included luxury unit Ferrari, which was spun off at the start of this year. Excluding Ferrari, adjusted operating profit in the quarter stood at 1.53 billion euros, while sales were at 29.4 billion euros.

Net industrial debt fell to 6 billion euros at the end of 2015, down from 7.85 billion at the end of September. Including the effect of Ferrari's spin-off, net debt fell to 5 billion euros.

CNBC contributed to this report.