Volkswagen profit 45.8% in 1st half recoils, but overcomes projections

The German automaker Volkswagen's net profit shrank 45.8% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2012, to 4.79 billion euros. Despite the fall, the result exceeded the projections of 4.62 billion euros from analysts.
Deliveries to customers advanced 5.4% from January to June totaled 4.8 million units, driven by strong growth in China. The production increased by 4.4% in the first half of the year, to 4.9 million cars, the company said.
Net revenues rose 3.5% and reached 98.69 billion euros, even down by the slowdown in the European economy. Revenues exceeded the expectation of 97.35 billion euros consensus.
The operating profit showed a worsening of 11.6% on annual basis, to 5.78 billion euros, but it was above the projections of 5.43 billion euros. According to Volkswagen, the retreat was justified by contingency reserves related to automobiles and energy engineering.
For 2013, the expectation of the company is to achieve above-market performance as a whole in a challenging environment and that deliveries to customers from advancing in the comparison year. The automaker expects net revenues this year exceed the obtained in 2012 and that the operating profit remains stable, due to the uncertainties of the economic scenario.