Stuttgart, 4 March 2008. Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Stuttgart, is still going strong. In the first six months of the current financial year 2007/08 (August 1, 2007 to January 31, 2008), a pretax Group profit of 1.658 billion Euros was achieved. The prior year result on a comparable basis was 1.341 billion Euros. This includes the proportional VW result for the fourth quarter of 2006 of about 272 million Euros and it is adjusted for the one-off effect of the revaluation of VW stake that resulted in an appreciation of 521 million Euros. Calculated on a comparable basis the Group result after taxes increased from 0.897 billion Euros in the previous period to 1.295 billion Euros in the reporting period.
Operating result before taxes grew in line with the increase in the turnover and sales figures. Turnover grew by 14 percent to 3.49 (prior year: 3.07) billion Euros and sales reached 46,736 vehicles versus 39,265 units in the comparable period for the prior year. The expansion of the dealer network, in particular into the new markets, and also the increased attractiveness of Porsche's product range contributed to these successes. The new top models of the successful 911 sports car series introduced during the reporting period, the 911 Turbo Cabriolet and the 911 GT2 were received with great enthusiasm by customers. And the Cayenne series was successfully expanded with the especially sporty Cayenne GTS which Porsche showed at the 2007 International Automobile Exhibition in Frankfurt.
However, the reporting period was once again affected by special factors, first and foremost the contribution to the result provided by hedging transactions in connection with the acquisition of VW shares. This rose from 791 million Euros to 850 million Euros. In line with the 22.5 percent holding in VW's equity, the VW result attributable to Porsche reached 484 million Euros versus the prior year figure of 275 million Euros. The prior year figure was revised and increased by the proportional VW result for the fourth quarter of 2006 so as to ensure comparability.
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