Volkswagen Posts Higher Q3 Profit

Volkswagen AG

reported a gain in its profit in the third quarter. Volkswagen's tax profit for the period surged 30% to EUR2.97 billion ($3.75 billion), while net profit attributable to shareholders jumped 58% to EUR2.93 billion. Underlying earnings surged 16% to 3.23 billion euros (2.54 billion pounds), versus analysts' estimates of 3.09 billion euros. Its revenue gained 4.1% to EUR48.9 billion. Volkswagen's group vehicle sales rose 4.1% to 2.43 million autos during the quarter. Deliveries of Audi jumped 7.2% to 429,250 cars, while deliveries of Porsche model climbed 25% to 47,800 cars in the same period. In the first nine months of the year, Volkswagen sold 7.65 million vehicles, a 5.6% rise versus the year-earlier period. In the first nine months, the company's pretax profit margin widened to 6.4% versus 5.9%. In the first nine months of the year, sales revenue jumped to EUR 147.7 billion from EUR 145.7 billion, while operating profit rose to EUR 9.4 billion from EUR 8.6 billion. “We expect that the markets will continue to see mixed trends in the remainder of the year. This environment is dominated by political and economic uncertainty and demands maximum flexibility and financial strength on our part. Our disciplined cost and investment management, as well as the continuous improvement of our processes – underpinned by our Group wide future and efficiency orientated program “Future Tracks” – will remain core elements of our Strategy 2018 so that we can achieve our long-term profitability targets and strategic goals”, said CFO Hans Dieter Pötsch. Volkswagen reaffirmed its forecast for the year. Volkswagen shares declined 0.78% to close at $41.13 yesterday.