Germany’s Volkswagen (VW), the biggest European carmaker, said yesterday that it managed to remain in the black despite an 81 percent plunge in its first-half net profit, but the outlook remains uncertain.
VW posted a net profit of 494 million euros (US$695 million), down from 2.57 billion euros in the same period a year earlier and below analyst forecasts of around 524 million euros.
Sales fell 9.4 percent in the six-month period to 51.2 billion euros, a statement said.
The group delivered a total of 3.1 vehicles, down 5 percent.
Business was “significantly affected by the global financial and economic crisis,” the company said.
OUTLOOK
VW maintained its outlook for this year but did not provide detailed figures, saying that “the high volatility of market developments does not permit any reliable forecasts to be made for the rest of fiscal year 2009.”
“Based on the extremely weak business in the first six months of 2009, we continue to expect that our earnings will not reach the level of previous years,” it said.
Operating profit in the six months to last month slumped 63.9 percent to 1.24 billion euros, but VW nonetheless continued to fare better than many rivals amid the collapse of global auto markets.
Meanwhile, French auto group Renault reported a first-half net loss of 2.71 billion euros as sales slumped 23.7 percent to 15.99 billion euros, but said the outlook was improving.
The loss figure contrasted with a net profit of 1.58 billion euros in the first half of last year.
Despite the loss, Renault, which controls the Japanese automaker Nissan Motor, maintained its forecasts for the year, expecting some parts of the market to recover from the global economic slump that has rocked the industry.
The company reported a big drop in its stocks of unsold vehicles, though they remained high.
GLOBAL SALES
Renault revised upwards its forecast global auto industry sales this year to more than 57 million vehicles, representing a fall of 12 percent from the figure last year compared with its previous estimate of a downturn of 15 percent.
In Europe, the market “should improve over the second half of the year to show a fall of eight percent,” compared with a drop of 13.7 percent in the first six months, the company said.
The group’s share of the global auto market was steady in the first half at 3.7 percent.
For the whole of the year, the company stood by its targets announced at the beginning of the year, of increasing its market share and achieving positive free cash flow, a reference to the rate at which the company earns cash compared with the rate at which the money is spent.
“Renault is holding up” against the slump, chief executive Carlos Ghosn said in a statement.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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