Porsche: Pretax Loss Euro4.4 Bn In Past Fiscal Year

BERLIN (AP) — Porsche Automobil Holding SE on Thursday reported a small net profit for the past financial year, but said it had a large pretax loss because of costs related to its attempted takeover of Volkswagen AG.

The pretax loss of euro4.4 billion ($6.6 billion) loss for the year that ended July 31 compared with a pretax profit the previous year of euro8.6 billion and was driven by writedowns for the value of options on Volkswagen shares, the company said.

"This impairment loss was recorded at the end of the reporting period and paved the way for the sale of the substantial part of the options to the emirate of Qatar," it said in a statement.

The result "was also influenced by the hidden reserves and liabilities identified in the course of the purchase price allocation for the shareholding in Volkswagen," it said.

Porsche said it had a small full-year net profit available for distribution of euro8.23 million after drawing euro1 billion from revenue reserves. That will allow it to pay out a small dividend.