Net profit rose 40.9 per cent in 2012: Volkswagen

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, today said that its net profit zoomed by more than 40 per cent last year on higher vehicle sales.

A statement from the company said that its net profit soared by 40.9 per cent to a record USD 28.6 billion in 2012 as revenues rose by 20.9 per cent with deliveries to customers up 12.2 per cent at 9.276 million vehicles.

VW eyes flat 2013 profit as crisis kicks in

BERLIN: (Reuters) Volkswagen's pursuit of record profits may suffer a setback this year as Europe's biggest carmaker becomes more cautious on its business outlook amid declining European auto markets.

The German company said on Friday its goal for 2013 was to match the record 11.5 billion euro ($15.21 billion) operating profit achieved last year.

The group warned of "ongoing uncertainty in the economic environment" and shares dropped 5.2 percent at 1444 GMT.

Germany's benchmark index DAX slipped 0.8 percent, partly because of disappointment over VW's planned dividend of 3.56 euros per preference share, short of the 3.85 euros expected on average in a Reuters poll.

Record sales of 9.1 million vehicles last year on overseas demand outweighed costs of an engineering revamp, helping VW to beat its own target for 2012 of merely matching 2011 profit.

Yet, after resisting most of last year's European slump, VW is growing more vulnerable to the crisis in its core market. Sales of VW's main namesake brand, accounting for almost a third of group profit, plunged 12.3 percent in the region excluding Germany in January.

"While we shall see positive effects from our attractive model range and strong market position, there will also be increasingly stiff competition in a challenging market environment," VW said. ($1 = 0.7563 euros)

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