Lamborghini says Middle East deliveries have returned to normal

SANT'AGATA BOLOGNESE, Italy, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Italian sports car manufacturer Lamborghini said that the conflict in the Middle East was no longer disrupting deliveries to the region, but the Volkswagen-owned luxury brand warned that the outlook remained highly uncertain.

• "September and October saw an improvement in our ability to deliver the vehicles," Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Federico Foschini said at a briefing with journalists

• The situation should be positive also for November, but it is difficult to make predictions further ahead, he noted, speaking at the company headquarters

• In April, Lamborghini had said that the conflict in the Middle East had forced a complete stop to sales and deliveries in the region

• The Middle East region accounts for about 450 cars sold a year for Lamborghini, roughly 5% of its annual volume, but historically produces high profit margins, in line with industry peers

• The company's top 10 markets are the US, Germany, Britain, Japan, China, South Korea, Canada, Switzerland, Italy and Australia, it said in a slide presentation

• On full-electric plans, Foschini reiterated that they had been put on ice, but research on the issue continues as "sooner or later we will also have to confront" this technology

• On October 30, Lamborghini reported falling operating profit and deliveries in the first nine months of the year, but rising revenue, citing "market headwinds"

• Operating profit was down 4.8% year-on-year to €564 million ($633 million) due to negative foreign exchange effects, higher depreciation and US tariffs, the automaker said($1 = 0.8908 euros)

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Keith Weir)