VW Group Announce result for first half 2021
Earnings before and after tax improved significantly to EUR 11.2 billion and EUR 8.5 billion, respectively
The Volkswagen Group continued its positive business performance and posted a rec-ord result despite challenging conditions in the first half of 2021. This positive devel-opment was driven in particular by the premium brands Audi and Porsche and by Volkswagen Financial Services. The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and global short-age of semiconductors were successfully contained.
There was high customer demand for the Group’s attractive model range as markets continued to recover. As a result, deliveries increased by 27.9 percent to 5.0 (3.9) million vehicles over the weaker prior-year period, which was impacted by the pandemic.
Sales revenue even rose more strongly by 34.9 percent to EUR 129.7 (96.1) billion. The operating result was EUR 11.4 (first half of 2020 before special items: EUR –0.8) billion, far exceeding the previous record of EUR 10.0 billion (before special items) from the pre-crisis year 2019. The operating return on sales was therefore at a strong 8.8 (first half of 2020 before special items: –0.8) percent.
The higher earnings were mainly due to increased vehicle sales, improvements in the product mix and prices as well as positive effects from the valuation of raw material hedges. One-off restructuring expenses of EUR 0.7 billion had a negative impact. Work on ongoing fixed cost programs was vigorously pursued. The Automotive Division generated a very high adjusted net cash flow of EUR 12.3 (–2.3) billion and thus again demonstrated the great efficiency of its business model.
The Division’s net liquidity rose further to a very solid level of EUR 35.0 billion. The acquisition of Navistar and its financial impact are not included in the figures. As a result of the extremely good business performance in the first half of the year, the Volkswagen Group has raised the outlook for its operating return on sales for full year 2021 by 0.5 percent to 6.0 to 7.5 percent.
CEO Herbert Diess: “We’re keeping up our high pace, both operationally and strategically. The record result in the first half of the year is clear proof of how strong our brands are and how attractive their products are. The premium segment performed especially well with double-digit returns, as did Financial Services. Our electric offensive is picking up momentum.“
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