FRANKFURT, Germany – German auto giant Volkswagen reported Friday a fall in third-quarter profits after taking a hit from suspending production in Russia and the listing of its premium sports car brand Porsche.

The car manufacturer made a net profit of 2.13 billion euros ($2.12 billion) in July to September, a fall of more than 26 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Results were “weighed down by non-recurring costs totalling around 1.6 billion euros related to revaluation effects due to the group’s suspended activities in Russia and costs associated with the Porsche IPO”, said Volkswagen in a statement.

Along with other German automakers including rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW, Volkswagen halted exports to Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine and closed its local production sites.

Last month, luxury sports carmaker Porsche floated on the Frankfurt stock exchange in one of Europe’s biggest listings in years. Volkswagen is expected to use some of the cash raised in the listing in its shift towards electric vehicles.

Volkswagen’s revenues in the third quarter however rose strongly to 70.7 billion euros. 

The group confirmed its outlook for 2022 in most areas. It expects sales revenues to be eight to 13 percent higher than in the previous year. – AFP