Porsche said it set new records for deliveries, revenue and operating results in full year 2017 financial year, after delivering 246,375 vehicles (up 4% year on year).
Revenue rose 5% to EUR23.5bn euro and operating profit was up 7% to EUR4.1bn from EUR3.9bn in 2016. That in turn boosted operating return on sales from 17.4% to 17.6%.
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The number of employees was up 8% to 29,777.
"This successful financial statement confirms our strategy. We are using our high earnings level to support an unprecedented future development plan," said chairman Oliver Blume.
In addition to making sizeable investments in its core sports car business, the automaker is also doubling its expenditure on future trends such as EUR6bn for electromobility by 2022. The money will be spent on derivatives of the Mission E, hybridisation and electrification of the current model range, as well as on developing a charging infrastructure and smart mobility.
"We have succeeded in boosting our operating result by over 50% within the last three years," said finance head Lutz Meschke.
"With a profit margin of 17.6%, Porsche continues to be among the most profitable automobile manufacturers in the world. This is down to continuous improvements in productivity, our stringent cost management strategy as well as our outstanding product range."
He said digitisation, electrification and connectivity were major challenges that require substantial investment.
"Nevertheless, we are sticking to our strategic return target of at least 15%. We must and we will generate growth potential alongside the actual vehicle business. In the medium term, we want to generate a double digit percentage of sales through digital services."
Meschke was optimistic in outlook: "Our aim for 2018 is to stabilise revenue and deliveries at this high level."
Porsche expects its next boost in sales to come when the Mission E, its first pure electric vehicle, goes on sale.
For the next decade, Porsche intends to continue with a three-pronged approach incorporating optimised combustion engines, plug-in hybrid models and purely electric sports cars.
"The regions of the world are developing at different rates. We are therefore gearing ourselves up as flexibly as possible for the transitional period," said Blume.
