Down 30.6 percent Volkswagen profit collapses

Significantly lower earnings from the former profit driver China. Added to this are conversion costs. This is reflected in earnings - which is also felt by shareholders.

DPA

11.03.2025, 08:03

11.03.2025, 08:10

dpa

The Volkswagen Group made significantly less profit last year due to tough competition in China and high conversion costs. On balance, VW earned 12.4 billion euros, almost 31 percent less than in the previous year, as the Wolfsburg-based company announced.

The former profit driver China generated significantly lower earnings. In addition, high costs were incurred for the closure of the Audi plant in Brussels, among other things.

In day-to-day business, the operating result fell by a good 15 percent to 19.1 billion euros. This corresponds to a margin of 5.9 percent after 7.0 percent in the previous year. VW thus performed better than recently announced.

Turnover, on the other hand, increased by just under one percent to 324.7 billion euros. The dividend is to be cut by 30 percent to 6.36 euros per Dax-listed preference share. This is a more significant cut than expected.

Turnover to grow this year

Despite the weakness in the sector, the VW Group is aiming for sales growth this year. Revenue at Group level is expected to increase by up to 5 percent compared to the previous year.

VW CEO Oliver Blume expects the operating return on sales to be in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 percent and thus remain at roughly the same level as last year.

In a long-simmering conflict, Volkswagen announced shortly before the end of the year that it would cut 35,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, almost one in four jobs at the core VW Passenger Cars brand.

According to VW, challenges arise above all from an environment of political uncertainty, increasing trade restrictions and geopolitical tensions.