Porsche Holding Ekes Out Profit Despite Large One-Off Charge

Porsche Automobil Holding SE (PAH3.XE) Thursday reported a net profit in 2011 despite a large one-off charge and said it expects to remain in the black this year, despite possibly another similar charge.

The company eked out a net profit of EUR37 million after the revaluation of options to sell the remaining 50.1% stake in its core sports car business to Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) shaved EUR4.37 billion from earnings.

"We expect Porsche SE to generate a significant profit before special effects at group level in ... 2012," Chief Financial Officer Hans Dieter Poetsch said in a prepared speech. He said another one-off effect related to the option valuation will occur in 2012, but it is uncertain if it will be negative or positive. Poetsch noted, however, that the earnings impact will be "considerably smaller than in 2011".

"All in all, and taking into consideration this special effect, Porsche SE considers a profit after tax in ... 2012 to be highly probable," he said. Porsche didn't provide a corresponding net profit figure for 2010 as it adjusted its fiscal year to match the calendar year.

Porsche plans to pay a dividend of EUR0.76 per preference share and EUR0.75 per ordinary share.

Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn reiterated that the goal to forge an integrated company with Volkswagen remains unchanged.

"We are committed to and will continue working towards this objective ... the integrated automotive group will be realized," Winterkorn said.

Winterkorn and Poetsch are also CEO and CFO of Volkswagen after Porsche's ill-fated attempt to take over the much-larger peer collapsed in 2009 and triggered the departure of the Stuttgart-based firm's previous management.

Porsche's holding firm is an umbrella organization comprising the sports car business and a 50.73% voting stake in Volkswagen. Both the sportscar unit and Volkswagen reported 2011 earnings numbers earlier this month.

As part of a complex agreement signed in August 2009 to forge a joint company, Volkswagen and Porsche granted each other put and call options to integrate Porsche's sports car business into Volkswagen if a decision on a fully-fledged merger couldn't be reached by the end of 2011.

As part of the deal, Volkswagen acquired a 49.9% stake in Porsche's sports car unit for around EUR3.9 billion.

But the companies were forced to abandon the initial merger plan last year because of insurmountable legal and tax obstacles. Several international investment funds and other investors accuse Porsche of cornering the market in 2008 during its ill-fated debt-financed takeover attempt of Volkswagen, which collapsed when credit markets dried up.

-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]