Recasts after analyst call

By Giulio Piovaccari and Gilles Guillaume

MILAN, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Stellantis STLAM.MI CEO Antonio Filosa promised a profitability comeback this year, after the automaker reported on Thursday a massive earnings hit linked to multi-billion euro charges caused by its scaled-back electric-vehicle ambitions.

The net loss of 20.1 billion euros ($23.8 billion) for the second half of 2025 was in line with preliminary ranges the carmaker provided on February 6 when it announced the charges, sending its shares reeling.

Its reported second-half 1.38 billion euro adjusted operating loss was also in line with the preliminary estimate.

With that effect factored in, market focus appeared to shift to the outlook for the Jeep-to-Peugeot carmaker and its Milan-listed shares were best performers among Italy's blue chips, up 5.2% by 1615 GMT.

Asked during a post-earnings analyst call whether Stellantis' two largest regions, North America and Europe, would come back to a positive adjusted operating income, Filosa said "the answer is very easy, it is yes".

"North American and European order books, both finished in 2025 at three months of sales," Filosa told analysts.

A Milan-based trader said Filosa sounded convincing enough about a return to profitability this year, in Stellantis' two largest regions, to encourage some purchases on the stock, after its recent fall.

OVERESTIMATED EV TRANSITION

Stellantis said on Thursday it booked a total of 25.4 billion euros in writedowns last year, including 22.2 billion euros for the second half it announced earlier this month.

The charges underscore the financial burden auto groups face globally because of a slower-than-expected and more complex shift to electric vehicles, as both the United States and Europe relax their EV targets.

Filosa said last year's results were "reflecting the cost of overestimating the pace of the energy transition."

Before Thursday's rebound, Stellantis shares lost about 20% since February 6, when they hit 5.73 euros, their lowest since the automaker was created in January 2021 through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA.

The writedowns - also caused by vehicle quality problems that Filosa attributed to cost-cutting under former boss Carlos Tavares - include about 6.5 billion euros in cash payments, expected to be spread across four years from 2026.

The company on Thursday reiterated its 2026 forecasts, including a mid-single-digit percentage increase in net revenues and a low-singe-digit adjusted operating margin. It sees industrial free cash flows returning positive only in 2027.

Stellantis, which confirmed it would not pay a dividend this year, will hold a capital market day on May 21.

The group said it expected costs related to U.S. tariffs to rise to 1.6 billion euros this year from 1.2 billion euros in 2025.

($1 = 0.8462 euros)

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan and Gilles Guillaume in Paris; additional rpeorting by Nora Eckert in Detroit and Giancarlo Navach in Milan; writing by Giulio Piovaccari; editing by Giulia Segreti and Tomasz Janowski)

((giulio.piovaccari@thomsonreuters.com))