Volkswagen Group’s 2020 adjusted operating profit nearly halved but the automaker said its vehicle deliveries continued to recover strongly in the fourth quarter.
Operating profit before special items related to the diesel-emissions scandal was about 10 billion euros ($12.2 billion), VW said in a statement on Friday.
The automaker, whose brands include Porsche, Audi and Bentley, had reported an operating profit of 19.3 billion euros in 2019.
Automotive net cash flow was about 6 billion euros ($7.3 billion) in 2020, VW said.
A robust sales recovery in the second half helped earnings despite fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said.
“The deliveries to customers of the Volkswagen Group continued to recover strongly in the fourth quarter and even exceeded the deliveries of the third quarter 2020,” VW said in the statement.
VW will report detailed full-year earnings and provide guidance for 2021 at the end of next month.
Like its rivals, VW is facing several challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic as well as a global shortage of chips needed for production.
VW said Thursday that it missed EU targets on CO2 emissions from its passenger car fleet last year and faces a fine of more than 100 million euros.
Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report
