Volkswagen’s first-half operating profit is expected to reach around 11 billion euros ($13 billion). This tops the pre-pandemic levels on strong demand in Europe and the United States, particularly for Porsches and Audis. The upmarket brands were less affected by an ongoing global shortage of crucial semiconductors.
In the same period last year, Volkswagen posted an operating loss of 1.49 billion euros. That is because of the pandemic crisis. Volkswagen’s shares rose as much as 5.8% to the top of Germany’s blue-chip DAX index. Business in China, the world’s largest car market, was slightly weaker in the period according to Volkswagen. Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, said that it now expected the main impact of the shortage, which has also hit rivals, to occur in the second half of the year.
The group said that first-half reported automotive net cash flow was expected to reach around 10 billion euros, versus 5.57 billion in 2019 and a negative 4.8 billion last year. Volkswagen, whose supervisory board is meeting to discuss a contract extension for Chief Executive Herbert Diess, is scheduled to publish full second-quarter results on July 29.
