Audi sold 20 percent fewer cars in the first half of the year, but increased operating profit by 59 percent year-on-year. With 4.9 billion euros, it has reached a record, said CFO Jürgen Rittersberger in Ingolstadt.
Drivers were the first-time consolidation of the luxury brand Bentley, which contributed almost 400 million to the operating result, and high car prices. Since demand is much higher than supply, automakers no longer have to give discounts.
The Volkswagen subsidiary Audi delivered 798,000 cars in the first half of the year. Nevertheless, sales rose by 2 percent to 29.9 billion euros and the operating result jumped to 4.9 billion euros. Raw material hedging transactions still contributed 400 million to the result - far less than in the first quarter because raw material prices had normalized significantly, said Rittersberger. The bottom line was a profit of 4.4 billion euros after taxes.
For the year as a whole, the Executive Board expects a slight increase in sales to 1.8 to 1.9 million vehicles and a strong increase in sales to 62 to 65 billion euros. In China, there should be catch-up effects after the corona lockdowns, said Rittersberger. But due to recurring bottlenecks in the supply of semiconductors, Audi has applied for short-time work as a precaution for the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm plants. And "material costs are increasing, especially for the batteries," said the chief financial officer.
The return on sales for the year as a whole should be 9 to 11 percent, after 16.5 percent in the first half of the year. As reasons for the decline, Rittersberger cited declining special effects from securing raw materials and residual values of used vehicles, increasing research and development costs and increasing sales figures in China. Audi posts the income from the Chinese plants in the financial result and not in the operating result.
