STUTTGART, Germany (AFP) - Porsche, the German maker of luxury sports cars, said that the popularity of its Cayenne sports utility vehicle enabled it to brave the difficult economic environment and steer profits to record levels in the 12 months to July.
Porsche said in a statement that it had attained pre-tax profit of 1.088 billion euros (1.4 billion dollars) in the year ended July 31, 16.6 percent more than in the preceding 12 months and the highest level in the company's history.
Net profit was up 8.3 percent at 612 million euros.
As a result, Porsche was raising the dividend payout to shareholders, with holders of ordinary voting shares to receive 3.94 euros per share, up from 3.34 euros a year earlier, and owners of non-voting preference shares seeing their payout upped to 4.00 euros per share from 3.40 euros.
Unit sales rose by 15 percent to 76,827 vehicles in the business year, pushing revenues up by 13.9 percent to 6.36 billion euros.
Sales growth was driven by the success of the Cayenne, the car maker said.
And the consistent popularity of the SUV made Porsche optimistic for the current business year, which runs from August to July, it said.
"At the same time, we assume that the new generation of 911 and Boxster cars, which are in the process of being launched, will provide additional momentum for business," Porsche said. "We're expecting further growth again this year."
11/15/2004 - 18:58 GMT - AFP