By Giulio Piovaccari and Gilles Guillaume
MILAN, April 30 (Reuters) - Stellantis said on Thursday its adjusted operating income almost tripled in the first quarter of this year, beating estimates, supported by sales growth in all regions, especially in the key North American market.
Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) at the Franco-Italian automaker stood at 960 million euros ($1.12 billion) in the January-March period, versus an analyst consensus of 568 million euros in a Reuters poll.
"The products we launched in 2025 have been well received and we're confident that the 10 new vehicles planned for 2026 will build on this momentum," CEO Antonio Filosa said in a statement.
Filosa is due to unveil the group's new long term business plan on May 21.
In the first quarter of last year, adjusted EBIT amounted to 327 million euros, Stellantis said.
It is the first time that Stellantis reports quarterly profit data since its creation in early 2021 through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA. The company previously only reported profit data every six months.
Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in February that struck down some of President Donald Trump's tariffs, Stellantis booked a positive impact of around 400 million euros in the first quarter, based on expected refunds.
Earlier this week rivals General Motors and Ford reported expected tariff refunds of $500 million and $1.3 billion respectively.
Stellantis - which in February announced charges for over 22 billion euros linked to a scaling-back pf its electric-vehicle ambitions - on Thursday confirmed its previously-provided forecasts for 2026.
They include a mid-single digit percentage increase in net revenues and a low-single digit adjusted operating income margin. Industrial free cash flows are seen to turn positive only next year, although improving compared to 2025.
($1 = 0.8576 euros)
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan and Gilles Guillaume in Paris, editing by Alvise Armellini)
