The sports and off-road vehicle manufacturer Porsche earned more in the past year despite disrupted supply chains and has set itself high return targets. The bottom line is that profits rose by 22.8 percent to almost 5.0 billion euros, as the Stuttgart-based group announced on Monday. The margin climbed from 16 to 18 percent. In order to achieve the long-term goal of 20 percent operating profit on sales, the management around Porsche and Volkswagenboss Oliver Blume (54) launched a new efficiency program.
“We are very satisfied with the business figures for 2022,” said CFO Lutz Meschke (56) on Monday. Sales increased by 13.6 percent to 37.6 billion euros. Porsche thus missed the self-imposed sales target of 38 to 39 billion euros. The number of cars delivered rose slightly by 2.6 percent to almost 310,000 in 2022 compared to 2021. In the largest single market China deliveries even fell slightly by 2.5 percent.
The carmaker had to struggle primarily with delivery problems. Porsche got almost all the wiring harnesses from the Ukraine related, explained Meschke. “So we were a bit more affected than others.” In the current year, however, more deliveries are expected in China and also in the second largest market, North America. For the entire group, Porsche is forecasting further growth to around 40 to 42 billion euros in sales.
According to management, Porsche is also targeting a corridor of between 17 and 19 percent for the margin in the medium term. In the long term, they aim for a return of more than 20 percent. “We’re putting everything to the test again,” said Meschke. But that shouldn’t cost jobs. On the contrary, they are looking for people in software development and battery technology.
Blume defends his stance on e-fuels
Porsche sees itself on target when it comes to expanding electromobility, but suffered a setback in the past year. Sales of the only all-electric model, the Taycan, fell by 16 percent, and the purely electric share of deliveries fell from 13.7 percent to 11 percent. By 2030, at least 80 percent of cars should be fully electric.
In 2024, Porsche wants to launch the electric Macan, which has been postponed for a long time. The all-electric 718 is planned for the middle of the decade. After that, the Cayenne, which was previously only offered as a hybrid, will also be available as a pure electric vehicle.
But Porsche CEO Blume also defended his position on the use of synthetic fuels, e-fuels for short, when presenting the annual figures. “If you take climate protection seriously, you have to see to sweeping every corner,” he said. “With a view to combustion vehicles, e-fuels are a sensible addition to existing vehicles and in the niche.” A ban on the registration of combustion engines is currently being discussed at EU level for 2035.
The Volkswagen Group took the sports car manufacturer public last September. A quarter of the preferred shares have been freely traded since December, and Porsche has been in the leading index, the Dax. The market capitalization is over 100 billion euros, well above that of the parent company VW with less than 80 billion. The family holding company Porsche SE acquired a blocking minority in the ordinary shares in the course of the IPO.