Volkswagen factory in Zwickau
Last year, VW was able to increase sales by almost 9 percent.
(Photo: imago images/Eibner)
The Volkswagen brand is lowering its forecast due to the uncertain economy and rising costs. Instead of the previously forecast six percent, the Executive Board is now assuming an operating return before special items of “more than four percent”.
Brand CFO Patrick Andreas Meyer justified this on Wednesday when the balance sheet was presented with a continued very challenging environment in terms of supply, raw material and energy prices and the geopolitical situation. “We are cautiously optimistic that the supply situation will stabilize over the course of the year and are consistently working on our cost position,” Meyer continued.
Last year, the main brand of the Wolfsburg group increased sales by almost nine percent to 74 billion euros with fewer deliveries. The operating result before special items jumped by 22.5 percent to 2.6 billion euros because VW was able to push through higher prices due to the tight supply. The operating margin climbed to 3.6 (previous year 3.2) percent.
Volkswagen boss Oliver Blume had said at the group’s press conference on the previous day in Berlin that an inventory a few weeks ago had revealed great potential in some areas as well as a need for action. When asked, CFO Arno Antlitz named the volume group with brands such as VW, Skoda and Seat, which should make better use of synergies. A program is currently being developed for this purpose.
Volkswagen also expects to sell the plant in Kaluga, Russia, soon. “The sales process has not yet been finally completed,” said brand boss Thomas Schäfer on Wednesday. “But it is known that we are making efforts to complete the sale in a relatively timely manner,” he added.
Because of the war in Ukraine, Volkswagen closed its business in Russia a good year ago and halted production in Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod. The then 7,000 VW employees in Russia initially continued to be paid.
In its balance sheet for 2022, the Wolfsburg-based group puts the burden of the Russian war against Ukraine at around two billion euros. This includes increased raw material costs as well as value adjustments and risk provisions.
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