Despite delivery difficulties, the sports and off-road vehicle manufacturer Porsche made significant gains last year. At 6.8 billion euros, earnings before interest and taxes were 27.4 percent above the previous year's figure, as the VW subsidiary announced on Monday. In the year of its IPO, the Stuttgart-based company increased its turnover by 13.6 percent to 37.6 billion euros.

"Under difficult conditions, we achieved by far the strongest result in the history of Porsche," said Porsche and VW CEO Oliver Blume. As already announced, sales rose by 2.6 percent to 309,884 cars.

"Our success factors are the improved price positioning, the strong product mix, the increased Group unit sales, exchange rate effects and our high cost discipline," explained CFO Lutz Meschke. Through the IPO, Porsche could release forces. "We can focus even more strongly and pick up even more speed," explained Meschke, who is also deputy CEO. He announced that Porsche would strengthen itself in the key areas of software and battery technology.

Shareholders share in the success

Porsche is also optimistic about the current year. In terms of sales, the company is aiming for a corridor of between 40 and 42 billion euros. And in terms of operating return on sales – i.e. the share of profit in operating business in sales – the company is heading towards its declared target of 20 percent. In 2022, the value had risen from 16 to 18 percent.

Shareholders should participate in the good business. For 2022, the Management Board proposes a distribution of EUR 911 million. In addition to a premium of EUR 5 million for the preference shares, the total amount amounts to EUR 916 million. This corresponds to a dividend of EUR 1.00 per ordinary share and EUR 1.01 per preference share.

The VW Group floated Porsche on the stock market in September and raised 9.1 billion euros gross through the listing of a quarter of Porsche AG preferred shares. In addition, 25 percent plus one share of Porsche AG's voting shares went to the VW parent company Porsche SE, which is controlled by the owner families Porsche and Piëch. In December, Porsche climbed into the leading index Dax, replacing the sporting goods manufacturer Puma.