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By Bloomberg

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV reported higher profit in the fourth quarter, boosted by U.S. sales of Ram pickups and Jeep SUVs as well as the stronger dollar.

Earnings before interest and taxes and excluding one-off items rose 14 percent to 1.08 billion euros ($1.23 billion), the London-based company said today. The figure missed the 1.11 billion-euro average of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue advanced 13 percent to 27.1 billion euros.

Fiat forecast adjusted Ebit to rise this year to between 4.1 billion euros and 4.5 billion euros from 3.65 billion euros last year.

Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne aims to boost sales by 60 percent to 7 million cars in 2018 as Fiat Chrysler invests 48 billion euros to expand Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Jeep into global brands. Fiat Chrysler generates more than half its sales and profit from North America, mostly from the U.S. The dollar’s gain versus the euro enhances the margin coming from U.S.-made SUVs and trucks when London-based Fiat Chrysler converts the currency into euros.

The euro fell to $1.1098 on Jan. 26, the weakest level in more than a decade, after the European Central Bank said it will inject 1.1 trillion euros to help stimulate the economy. The currency has tumbled 17 percent against the dollar in the last 12 months.

Gasoline Prices

After previously rising today, Fiat Chrysler shares in Milan fell as much as 2.5 percent to 11.29 euros and were down 2.2 percent at 2:29 p.m. The stock has climbed 18 percent this year, valuing the company at 14.9 billion euros.

Falling gasoline prices have helped increase demand for large vehicles in the U.S., where consumers bought more trucks than cars throughout 2014. That’s something that hadn’t happened in a decade and bolstered deliveries of Ram pickups.

Fiat Chrysler targets sales of 4.8 million to 5 million autos in 2015, compared with 4.6 million last year. The growth is backed by plans to bring 20 new models to the market by 2016.

The expansion will be partially financed by the spinoff of Ferrari, which will help raise about $4.7 billion. Fiat Chrysler will list 10 percent of Ferrari and distribute its remaining holding to the company’s investors. The automaker, created last year by the merger of Fiat SpA with its U.S. unit, plans to complete Ferrari’s initial public offering by June.

The spinoff will give Fiat Chrysler much-needed cash to cut debt and shape the two regional carmakers into a single entity to better challenge the likes of General Motors Co., Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. Fiat’s founding family, the Agnellis, will be the largest shareholder of both companies.

Net industrial debt amounted to 7.65 billion euros at the end of the quarter, down from 11.4 billion euros a year earlier, after Fiat Chrysler issued $2.9 billion in mandatory convertible bonds.