Audi operating profit soars 13.2% in Q1

PanARMENIAN.Net - Audi, the top-of-the-range carmaker owned by German auto giant Volkswagen, said operating profit accelerated powerfully in the first half of the year and stuck to its full-year target, AFP said.

Operating profit rose by 13.2 percent to 2.9 billion euros ($3.6 billion) compared to the same period in 2011, the firm said, registering sales of 25 billion euros, a gain of 16.2 percent.

Audi said it delivered 733,237 cars in the first half of the year, 12.3 percent more than in the first six months of 2011.

Chief financial officer Axel Strotbek said the firm was keeping to its goal of an operating profit at the same level as last year "as long as the economic environment does not darken further."

It said it aimed to deliver more than 1.4 million cars for the first time in the full year.

Last week, parent company Volkswagen also delivered upbeat earnings, saying that bottom-line profits in the first half soared by more than a third.

VW reported a 36-percent rise in net profit to 8.83 billion euros during the first six months of 2012 and a 23-percent rise in sales to 95.38 billion euros.