Volkswagen posts record 2010 results

Europe's biggest carmaker, Volkswagen, unveiled record 2010 results on February 25 and said it would do even better this year, sending its shares soaring. VW posted a net profit of 7.2 billion euros ($9.9 billion), a statement said, dwarfing the 2009 figure of 911 million euros.
Net profit got a boost from VW investments and the value of options related to its 49.9 percent holding in the luxury sportscar maker Porsche, which VW wants to make its 10th brand.
VW's operating profit soared to 7.1 billion euros, more than three times the year-earlier figure of 1.9 billion, on sales up 21 percent to 126.9 billion euros.
For the first time, VW delivered more than seven million vehicles worldwide, posting a gain of 13.7 percent to 7.2 million units.
"Fiscal year 2010 was the best year in the history of the Volkswagen Group," VW chairman Martin Winterkorn said in a statement.
The company harvested the fruit of investments in emerging markets like China and Brazil as it pursued its goal to overtake Toyota as the world's biggest automaker by 2018.
VW directors will propose a dividend of 2.20 euros for 2010, up from the 2009 shareholder payment of 1.60 euros, the statement said. Looking ahead, the company said it expected sales, deliveries and operating profit to reach new highs this year but did not give detailed figures.
The strong results along with a capital increase of more than four billion euros last year has underpinned VW's financial position and given it more flexibility as it pursues the integration of Porsche, the statement said.
VW shares jumped 5.07 percent to 118.15 euros in afternoon trading, while the DAX index on which they are listed was 0.49 percent higher overall.
On February 24, VW shares had slumped heavily on doubts over its planned merger with Porsche owing to a probe by the prosecutor's office in Stuttgart, southern Germany that focused on former Porsche executives. Full details of VW's results are to be provided at the group's annual shareholder's meeting on March 10 at the company's headquarters in Wolfsburg, northern Germany.