Well, good news in the automotive segment as at least the automakers are thriving while the rest of us huddle in our homes, afraid to venture out for worry of becoming the latest victims of or spreaders of COVID-19: VW has reported being back in black during the third quarter.
While they have delivered just 6.5 million vehicles in the first nine months of the year, down from 8.0 the year before, cars delivered in September saw an increase globally. That decrease in sales saw revenue from sales drop from 186.6 billion euros to "just" 155.5 billion.
But thanks to slashing R&D costs as well as other expenses, and the sales recovery that is beginning to happen, VW Group was able to hand out EUR 2.5B in dividends September 30th and convert from an annual loss of 4.8 billion at the end of June to a profit of 1.4 billion. The company said that the cuts had as much of an impact as the improving sales on the financial footing of the company.
"The Volkswagen Group’s business continued to be heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in first nine months. At the same time, the clear recovery trend in the third quarter shows how robustly our company is positioned. Not only did we get a grip on the acute effects of the pandemic and achieved a return to profitability. In this challenging situation, we also succeeded in making significant progress in implementing our strategy," said board of management finance boss Frank Witter.
Net liquidity is also up, with the company having EUR 24.8 b on hand, up from 18.7 b at the end of the second quarter.
The profit forecast for the year is expected to be lower than last year's, but still positive. The automaker didn't issue an exact prediction, citing market volatility.
Porsche, lending, and Skoda helped contribute to the profit, while VW car sales and emissions scandal costs hurt the company on that side of the ledger.
While they have delivered just 6.5 million vehicles in the first nine months of the year, down from 8.0 the year before, cars delivered in September saw an increase globally. That decrease in sales saw revenue from sales drop from 186.6 billion euros to "just" 155.5 billion.
But thanks to slashing R&D costs as well as other expenses, and the sales recovery that is beginning to happen, VW Group was able to hand out EUR 2.5B in dividends September 30th and convert from an annual loss of 4.8 billion at the end of June to a profit of 1.4 billion. The company said that the cuts had as much of an impact as the improving sales on the financial footing of the company.
"The Volkswagen Group’s business continued to be heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in first nine months. At the same time, the clear recovery trend in the third quarter shows how robustly our company is positioned. Not only did we get a grip on the acute effects of the pandemic and achieved a return to profitability. In this challenging situation, we also succeeded in making significant progress in implementing our strategy," said board of management finance boss Frank Witter.
Net liquidity is also up, with the company having EUR 24.8 b on hand, up from 18.7 b at the end of the second quarter.
The profit forecast for the year is expected to be lower than last year's, but still positive. The automaker didn't issue an exact prediction, citing market volatility.
Porsche, lending, and Skoda helped contribute to the profit, while VW car sales and emissions scandal costs hurt the company on that side of the ledger.
