Posted on 12/08/2004 6:20:12 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
German luxury automaker Porsche AG expects continued strong profits in its fiscal year ending July 31 despite the potential burden of the strong euro on U.S. sales, company executives said Wednesday.
Car sales and revenues should rise in fiscal 2005, driven by the relaunch of Porsche's 911 and Boxster sports cars, chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking said at the company's annual news conference in Stuttgart.
"You can assume that we will secure our very strong profitability," Wiedeking said.
In its last fiscal year, Stuttgart-based Porsche posted an 8.3 percent increase in net profit to 612 million euros. Sales rose 14 percent to 6.36 billion euros, thanks to sales of the Cayenne sports utility vehicle.
The strong euro, which has hit all-time highs against the dollar in recent weeks, is a potential risk for Porsche because it sells more than 40 percent of its cars in the United States. The weak dollar tends to make U.S. imports more expensive.
Porsche will continue hedging strategies on financial markets designed to protect it against currency swings, chief financial officer Holger Haerter said Wednesday. Porsche can defend its profit margins "even in case of a long-term dollar weakness," he said.
Porsche shares were up more than 3 percent at 497 euros ($661.85) at midday on the Frankfurt stock exchange.
Porsche is one of the world's best-managed companies. Its board manages for the long term, not the next quarter. Its development department is little known to the general public, but is world renowned for its innovation and clientele.
Continuous improvement in action was an American concept. Unfortunatly, Detroit never quite grasped it.
My next door neighbor got a fully-loaded Cayenne with twin turbos......the rat. I believe it's faster than his 928, and his two MBenz...
He's won. He has the most toys.
doh
oh nevermind
Yes, and Porsche learned many of its manufacturing techniques from the Japanese. They have been willing to adopt the ideas of others, if that's what is required to remain an industry leader and, most important to Porsche, independent.
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