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FRANKFURT : Volkswagen posted on Thursday a second quarter net profit of 1.25 billion euros (1.6 billion dollars), well above expectations and more than four times the previous year's figure.
Europe's biggest automaker had made a profit of 283 million euros in the same period a year earlier, and financial analysts had expected a profit of 733 million euros this time around.
A surge in deliveries saw second-quarter sales jump by 21.9 percent to 33.16 billion euros, while operating profit was nearly two billion euros, a statement from VW headquarters said.
VW maintained its full-year sales target, that of beating 6.3 million vehicles sold last year, and its operating profit target of more than 1.9 billion euros.
The group -- which wants to become the world's leading automaker by 2018 -- warned in a statement that second-half sales would not be as intense as those in the first six months of the year.
In the first half of 2010, VW's operating profit climbed to 2.8 billion euros from 1.2 billion in the first six months of 2009, a statement said.
Pre-tax profit more than tripled to 2.6 billion euros while sales gained 20.7 percent to 61.8 billion euros, it added.
Shares in the automaker shot up by 1.74 percent to 79.96 euros in morning trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange, while the DAX index of leading shares was 0.74 percent higher overall.
"First-half earnings were clearly in excess of our expectations," chairman Martin Winterkorn was quoted as saying.
- AFP /ls
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