Audi and Porsche perform well
For 2014, the company’s EBITDA reached 12.7 billion euro (up 8.8 %), while its turnover reached 202.5 billion euro, up 2.8 % compared to the year before. All in all, both numbers are record numbers for the German company.
“We can look back on the past fiscal year with satisfaction: despite the difficult economic environment, we achieved our goals for 2014,” CEO Martin Winterkorn said. Particularly, its Audi and Porsche divisions performed extremely well, although Skoda also did very well.
Bleak 2015 forecast
For the current fiscal year, the group still expects growth, both in car sales and revenue, but the company is more cautious than analysts as it only expects a 4 % turnover increase.
Its Belgian importer, D’Ieteren, has not fared as well as Volkswagen itself. It had already issued a profit warning and its numbers show that it was right to do so. Its EBITDA dropped more than 10 % to 157.2 million euro, despite a 1.3 % turnover increase to 5.54 billion euro.
The company will now restructure its distribution network, eliminating five locations by 2017. Its Chief Financial Officer, Benoit Ghiot, will also relinquish his post on 31 March, but it is unclear whether the weaker results are the reason for his departure.
