From the beginning of January to the end of March, Porsche delivered 51,102 new vehicles, which is 32 percent more than in the prior year. Revenue in the first three months of 2015 increased 29 percent to €5.08 billion, and operating profit surpassed the prior year figure by 10 percent and reached €765 million.
A key reason for this is the sales success of the new Macan, which was introduced last year and will be available for a full twelve months for the first time in 2015.
Lutz Meschke, Member of the Executive Board Finance and IT at Porsche, called attention to the company's continuously high profitability. "The first quarter result of €765 million reflects our healthy cost structure and the high profitability of Porsche," the CFO explained. In light of the present currency trends, Lutz Meschke is also optimistic that "with regard to the full fiscal year, we will reach last year's profit at a minimum. We will continue to hold to our strategic returns target of 15 percent."
Key factors on the debit side are outlays for future models and future technologies, as well as high investments in the extension and renovation of Porsche production sites. Research and development costs have nearly doubled at Porsche over the past three years, in particular due to expenses for alternative drives.
In the current year, research and development costs will once again run at around 9 to 10 percent of sales, said Lutz Meschke. This figure represents an extremely high rate in an industry comparison.
