Volkswagen boosted by emerging market growth
VOLKSWAGEN has posted a forecast-beating 45 per cent rise in third-quarter operating profit, driven by emerging markets and strong demand for VW and Audi vehicles, but warned Europe’s debt crisis would weigh on demand for cars in western Europe.
Volkswagen’s third-quarter operating profit rose 45.7 per cent to €2.89bn (£2.54bn), above the €2.61bn forecast in a poll. Its nine-month operating profit got a boost from derivatives used in the planned merger with Porsche, but Volkswagen did not say how much of that impact came in the third quarter.
Analysts cheered the results for holding up in the third quarter, traditionally the auto industry’s weakest.
“There’s no apparent seasonality at VW now – it’s just consistently very profitable,” Bernstein analyst Max Warburton wrote in a note.
“We shall continue in coming months to … expand the Volkswagen Group’s strong position in the global markets,” Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn said in a statement.