By David Sachs


Porsche AG warned of lower profitability this year, citing global economic conditions and investment costs, but lifted its dividend after its 2023 operating profit rose.

The German premium sports-car maker said Tuesday that it expects its operating return on sales to decline to between 15% and 17% in 2024 after posting an 18% margin last year, unchanged from 2022.

Porsche's muted expectations for profitability stem from a renewal of its product range as well as macroeconomic conditions, it said. The company also expects higher depreciation on capital costs to weigh on the result, but framed 2024 as a year characterized by four model launches that lays the foundation for a strong 2025.

Porsche's sales revenue rose 7.7% from 2022 to 40.53 billion euros ($44.29 billion), said the company, which is majority-owned by Volkswagen. Analysts had expected sales of EUR40.29 billion, according to the Visible Alpha consensus. Vehicle deliveries rose 3.3% to 320,221. The company expects sales of between EUR40 billion and EUR42 billion this year.

Operating profit jumped 7.6% to EUR7.28 billion last year, Porsche said, finishing slightly ahead of the Visible Alpha consensus of EUR7.23 billion.

The company proposed a dividend of EUR2.30 an ordinary share compared with EUR1.00 in 2022. The company aims to distribute 50% of its after-tax net income to shareholders in the medium term, it said.

Porsche's net cash flow from its automotive operations finished last year at EUR3.97 billion.


Write to David Sachs at david.sachs@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-12-24 0413ET