Ferrari third quarter profit doubles on one-off tax break

Ferrari says its net earnings doubled in the third quarter thanks mostly to one-off tax benefit.

The sports car maker said Monday that net earnings were 287 million euros ($327 million) compared with 141 million euros a year earlier.

The company said earnings grew 5 percent when excluding the so-called patent box tax break, agreed on with Italian authorities, covering use of copyrights, patents, trademarks, design and know-how.

Deliveries were up 11 percent to 2,262 vehicles driven by sales of the 812 Superfast and the Ferrari Portofino, with revenues flat at 838 million euros.

Europe and Middle East sales were up by double digits to 1,005. The Americas grew by 5 percent and greater China by 7 percent.

Ferrari forecast full-year sales at over 9,000 with profits of 1.1 billion euros.