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Porsche posts loss, but sees profit in 2011

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Porsche posts loss, but sees profit in 2011
Photo: DPA

German luxury sports car maker Porsche said Wednesday that it expected to turn a profit next year after posting a loss in the 2009-2010 exercise owing to its failed bid to buy Volkswagen.

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Porsche suffered a net loss of €454 million ($633 million) in the fiscal year that ended on July 31, a statement said. The loss is less than expected however and much better than in 2008-2009, when Porsche recorded a net shortfall of €3.5 billion.

The latest loss is "essentially" a result of negative accounting effects that stemmed from the de-coupling of Volkswagen and Porsche that took place in December 2009, a statement said.

The maker of 911 sports cars had taken on a massive amount of debt in its attempt to buy VW, before shelving the plan in the midst of the financial crisis.

In the end, VW turned the tables and is now in the process of buying Porsche in several steps that will create a new complex structure of cross shareholdings.

As part of that process, Porsche will move to the same calendar year as VW, and the new forecast was thus for 2011 as a whole.

On the operating level, the 2009-2010 fiscal year looked better, Porsche said, with a profit of €1.18 billion and record sales of €7.79 billion, a gain of 17.9 percent from its previous exercise.

For the truncated exercise that ends on December 31, the group forecasts "at least a balance" in its net result.

At the Porsche general assembly on November 30, directors will propose a 2009-2010 dividend of €0.094 per ordinary share, up from €0.044 in the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the company said. The proposed dividend on preferential shares will double to €0.10 per share.

In over the counter trading, Porsche shares closed with a gain of 4.95 percent at €39.

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