FRANKFURT, Aug 1 (Bernama-dpa) -- German automaker Volkswagen reported a smaller profit for the second quarter on Thursday, though results exceeded expectations despite the impact of restructuring costs and challenges at some of its major brands, reported German news agency dpa.
Operating profit decreased by 2.4 per cent to €5.46 billion (US$5.9 billion). Analysts had on average anticipated a larger decline.
Revenue increased by 4.1 per cent to €83.3 billion due to the strong performance of financial services, despite lower sales in the second quarter. However, profit fell by 4.2 per cent to €3.63 billion.
The company saw declines in key profit makers Porsche and Audi. It was also significantly impacted by the costs of job cuts at the core VW passenger car brand - the company has already set aside €0.9 billion for this.
Special expenses of around €1.7 billion for the possible closure of the Audi plant in Brussels are expected to follow in the current third quarter.
The Wolfsburg-based company had lowered its earnings forecast for the full year at the beginning of July. The management team led by CEO Oliver Blume confirmed the outlook on Thursday.
Vehicle sales were 4.3 million in the first half of the year, down 2 per cent from last year. VW said growth in North and South America nearly offset declines in other regions, particularly China.
--BERNAMA-dpa
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