Volkswagen AG recorded a sales revenue of €197.0
billion (previous year: €192.7 billion), the Group's operating profit of €11.7
billion (€11.5 billion) exceeded the record prior-year figure.
"Despite the difficult
competitive environment, we once again won over customers around the world with
our products,” said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the board of management
of VW AG.
“We met and even exceeded
our goals for 2013. This year, the Volkswagen Group will press ahead with its
product initiative across all brands. We will systematically expand our
offering by introducing attractive, environmentally friendly new vehicles. Our
goal is and will remain to offer all customers the mobility and innovation they
need, sustainably strengthening our competitive position in the process,"
he added.
The Group's profit before
tax amounted to €12.4 billion (€25.5 billion). Profit recorded by the Chinese
joint ventures, which are accounted for using the equity method, exceeded the
high 2012 level. By contrast, the prior-year figure was significantly
influenced by measurement effects totalling €12.3 billion from the integration
of Porsche.
Profit after tax came in at €9.1
billion (€21.9 billion). Net liquidity in the Automotive Division rose to €16.9
billion (€10.6 billion) as of year-end 2013 thanks to the robust business
model. In light of the successful fiscal year, the board of management and the
supervisory board will propose to the AGM to increase the dividend to €4.00 (€3.50)
per ordinary share and €4.06 (€3.56) per preferred share. After adjustment for
the measurement effect from 2012, this represents an increase in the
distribution ratio from 17.8 per cent to 20.6 per cent - one step closer to
Volkswagen's medium-term goal of 30 per cent.
Prospects
Challenges for the Volkswagen
Group will come from the difficult market environment and fierce competition,
as well as interest rate and exchange rate volatility and fluctuations in raw
materials prices.
The modular toolkit system,
which VW is continuously expanding, will have an increasingly positive effect
on the Group's cost structure, according to the company. Depending on the economic conditions, VW expects
2014 sales revenue for the Group and its business areas to move within a range
of 3 per cent around the prior-year figure.
In terms of the Group's
operating profit, the company expects an operating return on sales of between
5.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent in 2014 in light of the challenging economic
environment, and the same range for the passenger cars business area.
The commercial vehicles/power
engineering business area is likely to moderately exceed the 2013 figure. The
operating return on sales in the financial services division is expected to be
between 8 per cent and 9 per cent. Disciplined cost and investment management
and the continuous optimisation of the company's processes remain integral elements of Volkswagen Group's Strategy 2018.
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