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Porsche still booked a healthy profit in 2020 despite COVID |
Porsche SE said group after tax profit for 2020 was EUR2.6bn, down 40.5% year on year due mainly to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Volkswagen contributed EUR2.7bn versus EUR4.4bn in 2019. On 31 December 2020, net liquidity of Porsche SE was EUR563 versus EUR553m.
Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch said: “The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a sharp downturn in virtually all major economies. As the number of new cases started to fall, the automotive business began to stabilise in the second half of 2020. This pleasing development resulted in Porsche SE recording a positive group result after tax for the past fiscal year, despite conditions remaining difficult.”
Positive development of venture capital investments reaffirmed the investment strategy, the automaker said. AEVA Technologies made its stock market debut on the New York Stock Exchange on 15 March 2021. On the first day of trading, market capitalisation amounted to about US$3bn so the value of Porsche SE’s single digit percentage investment has increased significantly compared to its entry valuation.
Markforged announced an IPO in February 2021, the completion of which is expected by mid-year. Porsche SE expects a value uplift of its stake from this IPO as well.
Lutz Meschke, responsible for investment management, said: “The IPOs in Porsche SE’s portfolio show that we are on the right track with our investment strategy. Building on these successes, we want to make further investments this year as well.”
In August 2020, an investment was made in Aurora Labs of Israel. The technology of the software company is used for over-the-air software updates in vehicles.
On the legal side, there was little movement in 2020. Most of the scheduled hearings did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a ruling handed down by the federal court of justice, the higher regional court of Stuttgart appointed a model case plaintiff for the case pending there according to the Capital Markets Model Case Act (KapMuG) in October 2020. The first oral hearing on procedural issues is scheduled for the end of July 2021. Porsche SE is convinced that the lawsuits brought against the company are without merit and in some cases also inadmissible.
Preference shares of Porsche SE have been included in the MDAX since 22 March 2021. Poetsch said: “We are delighted about this and expect it to further increase interest in our shares.”
Dividend at EUR2.21 is on par with 2019.
For 2021, Porsche SE expects a recovery in global economic output provided that efforts to sustainably curb the COVID-19 pandemic are successful. The board expects a group result after tax of between EUR2.6bn and EUR4.1bn depending on how Volkswagen Group does. Net liquidity is expected to range between EUR0.4bn and EUR0.9bn.