Porsche Holding Ekes Out Profit Despite Large One-Off Charge
March 15 2012 - 4:29AM
Dow Jones News
Porsche Automobil Holding SE (PAH3.XE) Thursday reported a net
profit in 2011 despite a large one-off charge and said it expects
to remain in the black this year, despite possibly another similar
charge.
The company eked out a net profit of EUR37 million after the
revaluation of options to sell the remaining 50.1% stake in its
core sports car business to Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) shaved EUR4.37
billion from earnings.
"We expect Porsche SE to generate a significant profit before
special effects at group level in ... 2012," Chief Financial
Officer Hans Dieter Poetsch said in a prepared speech. He said
another one-off effect related to the option valuation will occur
in 2012, but it is uncertain if it will be negative or positive.
Poetsch noted, however, that the earnings impact will be
"considerably smaller than in 2011".
"All in all, and taking into consideration this special effect,
Porsche SE considers a profit after tax in ... 2012 to be highly
probable," he said. Porsche didn't provide a corresponding net
profit figure for 2010 as it adjusted its fiscal year to match the
calendar year.
Porsche plans to pay a dividend of EUR0.76 per preference share
and EUR0.75 per ordinary share.
Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn reiterated that the goal to
forge an integrated company with Volkswagen remains unchanged.
"We are committed to and will continue working towards this
objective ... the integrated automotive group will be realized,"
Winterkorn said.
Winterkorn and Poetsch are also CEO and CFO of Volkswagen after
Porsche's ill-fated attempt to take over the much-larger peer
collapsed in 2009 and triggered the departure of the
Stuttgart-based firm's previous management.
Porsche's holding firm is an umbrella organization comprising
the sports car business and a 50.73% voting stake in Volkswagen.
Both the sportscar unit and Volkswagen reported 2011 earnings
numbers earlier this month.
As part of a complex agreement signed in August 2009 to forge a
joint company, Volkswagen and Porsche granted each other put and
call options to integrate Porsche's sports car business into
Volkswagen if a decision on a fully-fledged merger couldn't be
reached by the end of 2011.
As part of the deal, Volkswagen acquired a 49.9% stake in
Porsche's sports car unit for around EUR3.9 billion.
But the companies were forced to abandon the initial merger plan
last year because of insurmountable legal and tax obstacles.
Several international investment funds and other investors accuse
Porsche of cornering the market in 2008 during its ill-fated
debt-financed takeover attempt of Volkswagen, which collapsed when
credit markets dried up.
-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512;
christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com
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