On the back of its holding in Europe's biggest car maker Volkswagen, Porsche posted record annual results on Nov. 7. However the company voiced concern about the outlook as growth slows sharply.
Porsche said its year to July 2008 net profit soared nearly 51% to 6.39 billion euros (US$7.21 billion) as the company booked massive gains on its VW shares.
Porsche said the contribution from various financial transactions involving stock in VW, in which it has built up a 74%, rose to 6.83 billion euros from 3.59 billion euros the previous year. Porsche currently owns a direct stake in VW of 42%, and controls about 32% more via stock options.
Sales, in contrast, rose only 1.3% to 7.46 billion euros.
Porsche warned again that 2009 will be a tough year and that it will be forced to reduce production owing to a drop in sales, particularly in the U.S. market.
The Stuttgart-based company said it sold 98,652 of its highly sought after sports cars and sports utility vehicles, an increase of 1.2%.
Porsche plans to increase its direct stake in VW to more than 50% before the end of the yea.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
