Porsche profits jump 25% during first nine months of 2011

Luxury German sports car maker Porsche, in which Qatar holds a 10 percent stake, has said its profits jumped 25 percent during the first nine months of 2011. Following a surge in sales to Asia, the group said operating profit between January and September rose to 1.51bn euros ($2.14bn) from 1.21bn euros in the same period in 2010. Porsche said it predicts that earnings and sales in the full year 2011 will surpass last year. Lutz Meschke, Porsche’s chief financial officer, said: “This result impressively underlines the sustainable quality of our growth trajectory, which we will continue throughout the full 2011 financial year. \"Our assumption is that 2011 sales revenue and operating profit will significantly exceed the previous year’s levels.\" During the reporting period, Porsche’s turnover rose by 20 percent with sales increasing by 26 percent to 85,872 vehicles. Matthias Müller, chairman of Porsche, said: “For the first time in its history, Porsche will sell over 100,000 vehicles.” Porsche said growth was spread across all regions but with the largest increase being posted by China, with vehicle sales up 82 percent to 17,683 units. Total sales in the Asia/Rest of the World region, which includes the Middle East, rose by 54 percent to 31,954 vehicles.