Porsche's 9-month profit drops to euro4.6 billion

BERLIN - Automaker Porsche SE said Friday its nine-month profit dropped 15 percent to euro4.6 billion ($6.4 billion), excluding its holdings of Volkswagen AG, as the global economic crisis drove down demand for new cars.

The Stuttgart-based luxury carmaker said its sales from Aug. 1, 2008 to April 30 this year and VW's sales in the first three months of 2009 had fallen by a combined 27.6 percent, or 53,635 vehicles, against the same periods a year earlier.

Together VW and Porsche sales came in at euro28.4 billion ($39.53 billion) for the two periods.

Porsche increased its stake in VW to some 51 percent at the beginning of 2009, and it was the first time the two carmakers reported sales and profits jointly.

In a statement, Porsche said its profits were hurt by falling demand for new cars as a result of the economic crisis.

"In the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal year, the Porsche subgroup could not avoid the downward trend that has overtaken the worldwide automobile industry," the statement said.

Sales of its mainstay 911 dropped 18.2 percent to 20,254 in the nine months ending April 30, while sales of the Cayenne SUV dropped by the largest margin, slipping 46.7 percent to 8,692 vehicles.

High financing costs are also dragging on Porsche. The company carries some euro9 billion ($12.5 billion) in debt from its recent VW share increase and is looking for an outside investor to pay down that burden.

The prime minister of Qatar confirmed Wednesday that his nation's main sovereign wealth fund is eyeing a stake in Porsche. He refused to disclose the terms of the deal, which he said would be announced in two to three weeks.

Shares of Porsche were trading down 0.2 percent to euro44.50 in morning trading in Frankfurt.

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