Volkswagen broadly met market expectations with a 62 per cent rise in nine-month operating profit before special items and reaffirmed its forecast for a full-year increase today.
Helped by efforts to cut costs and slash jobs in its troubled VW brand operations, group operating profit increased to €3.02 billion, excluding €1.66 billion in one-off charges.
Following yesterday's margin outlook cut by rival French carmaker PSA, Volkswagen stuck to its forecast for a full-year increase in pre-exceptional operating profit and a positive net cash flow at its core automotive business.
Volkswagen said nine-month revenues rose 11.8 per cent to €77.03 billion. Earnings before tax, which include the non-consolidated results of the group's two key Chinese joint ventures, fell 7.1 per cent to €937 million.
Including a nearly €800 million one-off gain from its divested Europcar rental unit, after-tax profit rose 76.6 per cent to €1.21 billion.
Volkswagen said earlier today it had filed plans with the German cartel office to raise its stake in German truckmaker MAN to more than 25 per cent.