MILAN, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Italy's Ducati , maker of the Monster motorbike, increased its core profit (EBITDA) in the fourth quarter despite the impact of the strong euro on sales in in the United States.
Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 5 percent to 14.2 million euros, helped by sponsorship deals for its racing team and lower costs, Ducati said in a statement issued on Thursday.
EBITDA would have risen 30.5 percent excluding the foreign exchange impact, the company said.
Revenues fell 9.1 percent to 103.6 million euros but would have been down a softer 5.3 percent excluding currency fluctuations, it said.
Worldwide registrations, or a measure of retail sales, were up 2 percent in the October-December period, lagging the market's 7 percent growth, Ducati said in a statement.
For 2003 as a whole, EBITDA fell nearly 14 percent to 45 million euros and revenues slipped 6 percent to 388.2 million euros, it said.
According to Reuters Research, analysts were expecting Ducati to post full-year sales of 397 million euros
Worldwide registrations in 2003 were down 3 percent.
"Looking forward, 2004 is expected to be stronger than 2003 and has got off to an encouraging start in terms of registrations," Ducati Chief Financial Officer Enrico D'Onofrio said in the statement.
He said a restructuring plan would offset foreign exchange impacts during 2004 and revenues were expected to grow in a "consolidation" year ahead of "notable improvements in the economic climate" in 2005.
Together with new models launched in September and a string of cost cuts, Ducati had previously forecast a rise in profitability and a return to full-year net profit after a very slow start to 2003.
Ducati is revamping its U.S unit through a plan to cut inventories to six months from nine and to cut 50 jobs in 2003.
Net debt at the end of December was 117.2 million euros, up from 112.4 million euros a year earlier, Ducati said.