Porsche Automobil Holding SE has said pretax profit at its core sports car business declined as vehicle sales and revenue fell in the first nine months of its fiscal year.
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“A high earnings margin was still achieved,” Porsche said in a statement on Friday, blaming the decline on expenses for the Panamera model line – about to be launched first in China – and a hybrid drivetrain for its Cayenne SUV.
Consolidated profit before tax would significantly rise, however, thanks to a considerable boost in earnings from cash-settled stock options that benefited from a high underlying share price in Volkswagen ordinaries, a Reuters report said.
The group, with in EUR9b of net debt by the end of its first half, said its nine-month result to the end of April was also affected by higher refinancing costs.
Turnover fell 15% to EUR4.6bn ($6.42bn) while volumes fell 27.6% to 53,635 vehicles.
Porsche said its operating profit was also less than in the same period a year earlier, but did not provide figures, AFP reported.
“A look at global unit sales makes clear that no region is being spared the sharp decline in automobile markets,” Porsche said.
Porsche said current year sales were likely to fall below the level of the previous fiscal year.
