German carmaker Volkswagen 2009 net income declines 80 percent to $1.3 billion

Volkswagen 2009 net income declines 80 pct

FRANKFURT — Germany’s Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest carmaker by sales, said Friday its net income for 2009 fell 80 percent to €960 million ($1.3 billion) from nearly €5 billion in 2008.

The drop came as revenue fell 8 percent, to €105.2 billion from nearly €114 billion a year earlier, even though deliveries to customers were up 1.3 percent year-on-year at 6.34 million vehicles from 2008.

Volkswagen, based in Wolfsburg, said its revenue and operating profit for 2010 are expected to exceed the previous year’s figures despite what it said was a “shift in volumes between the markets.”

Volkswagen did not release fourth quarter earnings, but is scheduled to report full earnings March 11.

It said its operating profit declined 71 percent to €1.9 billion from €6.3 billion in 2008.

VW said it would propose a dividend of €1.60 per share from €1.93 last year, a decrease of 17 percent.

Looking ahead, Volkswagen said it planned to unveil a “large number of new models” in a bid to expand its market share as it pursues current world No. 1 Toyota.

“We therefore anticipate that our deliveries to customers will be higher than in 2009,” it said in a statement, adding it would also continue to focus on cost and investment management and optimizing its business.

Volkswagen’s brands include Audi, Seat, Bentley and Skoda. It is also a major shareholder in two of Europe’s largest truckmakers, MAN SE of Germany and Scania AB of Sweden.

Shares of VW were 1.3 percent lower to €63.26 in Frankfurt afternoon trading.

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