$29 Billion, Net: Volkswagen Declares Record Profit

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: February 22nd, 2013

29 billion net volkswagen declares record profit

Winterkorn gets honorary PhD. He deserves it

Despite a severe contraction of its European home market, Volkswagen today announced record earnings for 2012. The group delivered an after tax profit of €21.9 billion ($28.9 billion) up from €15.8 billion ($20.9 billion) in the preceding year.

The after tax result “includes the clearly positive effects from the final measurement of the put/call rights relating to Porsche as of July 31, 2012,” as Volkswagen says. However, an operating profit of €11.5 billion ($15.2 billion) isn’t half bad. Insiders expected a hit on the operating results due to alleged predatory dumping in Europe, but it wasn’t the case.

Maybe it was. Sales rose from €159.3 billion ($210.5) in 2011 to €192.7 billion ($254.6) in 2012. The operating profit on the other hand remained relatively flat, going from €11.3 billion in 2011 to €11.5 billion in 2012. As long as you can afford being a predator, go for it.

What is even more interesting is the guidance Volkswagen gave today: “Given the pressures resulting from the difficult environment the Volkswagen Group’s goal for operating profit is to match the prior-year level in 2013. Deliveries to customers and sales revenue are to increase year-on-year.“

January – December20122011+/- (%)Volkswagen Group (IFRSs):Deliveries to customers‘000　units9,2768,26512.2Vehicle sales‘000　units9,3458,36111.8Production‘000　units9,2558,4949EmployeesDec. 31549,763501,9569.5Sales revenueEUR million192,676159,33720.9Operating profitEUR million11,51011,2712.1Profit before taxEUR million25,49218,92634.7Profit after taxEUR million21,88415,79938.5Noncontrolling interestsEUR million168391-57Profit attributable to shareholders of Volkswagen AGEUR million21,71715,40940.9

#BertelSchmitt #Results2012 #Volkswagen

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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2 of 25 comments

NorthwestT on Feb 22, 2013

Maybe now those guys can get some suits that fit. And yeah, what Buickman said.

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JSF22 on Feb 24, 2013

You sure can get a lot of honorary degrees just by saying "yes" to Ferdinand Piech. Which, as it has turned out, has been a pretty good thing for Winterkorn to do. Piech inherited a company that was really only good at creating jobs for Germans and turned it into what is by nearly any measure the most successful automobile manufacturer the world has known, often by building incredibly good cars. If that takes them to the top in volume, great ... but I think we've seen plenty of examples of what chasing volume for its own sake accomplishes.

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