FRANKFURT, Germany -- Automaker BMW AG said today that its first-quarter net profit rose 81 percent, driven in part by the sale of its stake in engine maker Rolls-Royce Group PLC and improved demand for its stylish but pricey luxury sedans.

The Munich-based car company earned 948 million euros ($1.2 billion) in the first three months of 2006, compared with 525 million euros in the year-ago period. That beat expectations of 903 million euros by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

Revenue rose 12 percent to 11.6 billion euros ($14.67 billion) from 10.3 billion euros in the first three months of 2005.

Pretax profit rose 58 percent to 1.3 billion euros ($1.64 billion) from 822 million euros, with the company booking a 375 million euro ($474.1 million) gain on the sale of the Rolls-Royce stake.

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The company said it was targeting 4 billion euros in pretax profit for 2006.

BMW's only North American assembly plant is located in Greer. BMW Manufacturing Co. employs approximately 4,500 workers, and the plant makes the X5 SUV, Z4 roadster and coupe and M models for worldwide sales.

"We also expect earnings to increase in 2006 at an operating level, excluding the exceptional gain from the exchangeable bond on Rolls-Royce shares," BMW's Chief Executive Helmut Panke said. "In terms of operating results, the current year, excluding the one-off gain, will ... be the best year in the company's history to date."

The company said its first-quarter deliveries rose 14 percent to 332,923 vehicles, up from 292,207 vehicles the year before. Deliveries to customers for the BMW brand rose 18 percent on the year to 283,297 cars, from 239,387 cars.

Panke said that trend continued in April, calling sales and demand for the 3-series as well as the upcoming Z4 particularly strong.

He said he expects a slight decrease for the Mini brand and "unchanged strong results" for the BMW brand. Overall, Panke said sales were expected to rise "by a middle one-digit percentage rate" in April.

Shares of BMW were down less than half a percent to 43.25 euros ($54.68) in Frankfurt trading.

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