Porsche records operating result of two billion euros

Image caption above: Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman and Member of the Executive Board responsible for Finance and IT at Porsche AG.

In the first three quarters of 2020, Porsche generated an operating result of 2.0 billion euros, despite the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. With revenue of 19.4 billion euros, the sports car manufacturer recorded a 10.4 per cent return on sales in the last nine months.

Although the operating result was down by 28 per cent on last year’s figure, Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman and Member of the Executive Board responsible for Finance and IT at Porsche AG, is very satisfied with the result: “We are now profiting from the fact that continuous optimisation of our processes is part of our DNA,” he said. The resulting increase in efficiency has enabled Porsche to achieve a double-digit return on sales, despite the uncertain situation in the automotive industry.

25,400 units of the classic 911 sports car were delivered in the first nine months of the year, corresponding to an increase of one per cent year-on-year. The all-electric Porsche Taycan was launched in September 2019 and was handed over to almost 11,000 customers between January and September.

Since the start of the year, Porsche has delivered 191,547 cars to its customers worldwide. Although this is five per cent less than in 2019, Porsche has managed to keep the drop at a moderate level when compared to the market, as a whole. The sports car manufacturer has profited primarily from the Chinese market, which has recovered quickly after the lockdown. Between January and September, Porsche handed over 62,823 vehicles to customers in China. This corresponds to almost a third of all its global deliveries. Demand is also recovering strongly in other markets.

Despite difficult conditions in the overall market, Porsche is resolutely pursuing its investments in digitalisation and electrification. Fifteen billion euros will be invested into new technologies over the next five years.

“Although this investment reduces our current result, in the long term it will help to secure the future of the company and jobs,” emphasised Lutz Meschke. Besides the challenging market environment, currency effects have also had a negative impact on the result. However, Meschke added that a return on sales of 15 per cent still remains the strategic goal of Porsche AG.

“Because of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, this is unrealistic for 2020 but, thanks to our long-term strategy, we are confident that we will achieve double-digit return on sales at the end of this year,” he concluded.