Net profit slid 11% to €559 million as U.S. tariffs cut into results by a triple-digit million-euro figure
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For the fourth year running, Audi opened the calendar year with shrinking earnings, as first-quarter net profit slipped just over 11% to €559 million ($653 million), Yahoo Finance reported. The Volkswagen Group subsidiary posted net profit of €2.9 billion in the same period in 2022.
Operating profit for the quarter came in at €537 million, up from €466 million in the first quarter of 2024, on revenue of €15.4 billion — a 12.4% increase from the prior year period, the company said. The operating margin was 3.5%, compared with 3.4% a year earlier.
The tariff burden from the U.S. amounted to a low triple-digit million-euro hit, CFO Jürgen Rittersberger told investors, according to Yahoo Finance. Without that impact, Audi would have recorded growth in pre-tax profit. Rittersberger said the company cannot yet assess the effect of President Donald Trump's threatened increase in tariffs on E.U.-made cars to 25%.
Audi brand deliveries fell about 3.4% to 383,401 vehicles in the quarter, the company said. China remained a drag, with deliveries in that market declining 7% to 144,471 vehicles amid intense local competition. China continued to be a significant weight on the company's earnings, with income from that market collapsing to €28 million — down from €170 million in the same quarter the prior year, according to Yahoo Finance.
Net cash flow was -€61 million, a significant improvement from -€768 million in the first quarter of 2024. The company attributed the negative figure to investments in products and platforms, the acquisition of remaining shares in Sauber Holding AG, and changes in working capital.
One bright spot was electric vehicle sales. Audi delivered 46,371 fully electric cars in the quarter, a 30.1% increase from the same period last year. Orders for fully electric models in western Europe rose 86% year over year.
Profit after tax totaled €630 million, down from €736 million in the first quarter of 2024. The financial result — which includes income from China joint ventures — fell to €265 million from €515 million a year earlier.
Audi maintained its full-year guidance, projecting revenue of between €67.5 billion and €72.5 billion, an operating margin of 7% to 9%, and net cash flow of €3 billion to €4 billion. The company said it cannot yet assess the financial implications of U.S. import tariffs or the full cost of a labor agreement reached with its works council in March, and those factors are not reflected in the forecast.
Rittersberger delivered a pointed warning in a statement accompanying the results. "Certainties of the past — such as stable sales markets and predictable conditions — no longer apply," he said. "We need to act urgently. We are therefore working on our cost structures and pressing ahead with efficiency measures."
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