Reuters, FRANKFURT, July 9 – Volkswagen (VOWG p.DE) expects its first-half operating profit to be around 11 billion euros ($13 billion), up from pre-pandemic levels due to strong demand in Europe and the United States, particularly for Porsches and Audis. The upmarket brands were less impacted by a global scarcity of critical chips, according to the German manufacturer, which added that its financial services division also contributed to higher profitability. Volkswagen achieved a profit of roughly 9 billion euros in the first half of 2019, compared to a loss of 1.49 billion euros in the same period last year due to the coronavirus problem. Volkswagen’s stock soared to the top of Germany’s blue-chip DAX index, rising as much as 5.8%. (.GDAXI). According to Volkswagen, business in China, the world’s largest car market, was marginally weaker over the period. Auto sales in China decreased 12.4 percent year over year in June, according to industry figures, as a result of the worldwide semiconductor bottleneck. find out more Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automaker, said it now expects the shortage, which has also impacted competitors, to have the greatest impact in the second half of the year. According to the company, first-half automotive net cash flow is forecast to be about 10 billion euros, up from 5.57 billion in 2019 and a negative 4.8 billion the previous year. Volkswagen will release its second-quarter data on July 29 after its supervisory board meets to propose a term extension for Chief Executive Herbert Diess. (1 dollar = 0.8430 euros) Christoph Steitz contributed reporting.
Kirsti Knolle and Mark Potter edited the piece.
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