Volkswagen Group reports €1.5 billion operating profit in January-September 2009

The Volkswagen Group today reported an operating profit of €1.5 billion in the first nine months of the current year despite the ongoing difficult macroeconomic environment.

This figure does not include the more than €500 million profit attributable to Volkswagen's joint ventures in China, the Group's largest market, the company said in a release.
 
Volkswagen had reported a profit of €4.9 billion in the same period last year (January-September 2008).

As of September, Volkswagen's automotive division improved its net cash flow substantially to €5.1 billion (€-0.1 billion in the same period last year).

Net liquidity in the automotive division also increased to €13.4 billion as of 30 September 2009, up around €5.4 billion higher than at the close of the last fiscal.

"The Volkswagen Group is holding its own extremely well despite the adverse conditions. While the global market is contracting by 12 per cent, we are recording stable delivery levels. This proves that - even in difficult times - we are well positioned with our multibrand strategy," Martin Winterkorn, chairman of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft said at the presentation of the interim report for the first nine months.

"We have again proved that we are maintaining our financial flexibility during the crisis, too," added CFO Hans Dieter Pötsch. "We will continue to exploit our opportunities on the market, while maintaining strict cost discipline and ensuring our liquidity," he added.