“The operating profit of €1.6 billion shows that we are among the best in the industry, even under difficult conditions. Our policy of consistently improving our productivity and investing massively in the typical Audi values of design, sportiness, quality and efficiency over the past few years is now paying dividends,” said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG.
“We will increase our market share again in the current year with attractive, efficient models, drawing considerably closer to our goal of becoming the world market leader in the premium segment,” added Stadler.
Due to the recession, Audi brand deliveries went down 5.4% in the past year and reached 949,729 cars. Revenue for the 2009 fiscal year dropped 12.7% to 29,840 billion Euros due to deliveries drop combined with the exchange-rate burdens.
Operating profit was down 42.1% at 1,604 million Euros, while profit before tax was 39.3% below the 2009 figures. Profit after tax fell 38.9% to 1,347 million Euros. Despite the difficult economic situation, the return on investment reached an impressive level of 11.5%.
“These figures mean the Audi Group is one of the most profitable players in the international automotive industry, which is particularly revealing in a crisis year such as 2009,” emphasized Axel Strotbek, Member of the Board of Management for Finance and Organization at AUDI AG.
“Our farsighted, circumspect approach enabled us to navigate the crisis successfully and finance all our investments from cash flow from operating activities. With a positive net cash flow of over €2.3 billion, we also generated a healthy surplus, which in fact significantly exceeds the previous year’s outstanding figure,” emphasized Strotbek. “We succeeded in carrying out all product investments as planned, and have thus laid sound foundations for the future growth of the Company,” he continued.
Net liquidity climbed by 14.8% to around 10.7 billion Euros.
Google News