Via Bloomberg

Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automaker, said first-quarter operating profit rose 22 percent, helped by record sales at the luxury Porsche and Audi brands.

Earnings before interest and taxes increased to 2.86 billion euros ($3.97 billion) from 2.34 billion euros a year earlier, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based manufacturer said in a statement today. Profit beat the 2.74 billion-euro average of nine analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue gained 2.7 percent to 47.8 billion euros.

VW said last month that its annual sales may exceed 10 million vehicles for the first time in 2014, four years earlier than planned. That includes deliveries by MAN SE and Scania AB, the truck divisions in which VW is seeking full ownership. Those takeovers, and plans to introduce 100 new or revamped cars through next year, are part of a strategy to overtake Toyota Motor Corp. as the global leader in auto sales by 2018.

“From a strategic point of view, the product and brand position of Volkswagen AG is the envy of the industry,” said Roman Mathyssek, a Munich-based analyst at consulting company Strategy Engineers GmbH. “They still have potential to improve further in terms of products, costs and market presence in the years to come.”

Still Counting

The German carmaker said it’s still tallying the shares that investors have pledged in the company’s 6.7 billion-euro tender for full ownership of Scania. The offer expired April 25. Volkswagen said it plans to publish the results soon.

VW already controls 62.6 percent of Scania’s capital via direct and indirect holdings, and it’s offering 200 kronor a share for the rest of the Soedertaelje, Sweden-based company. That’s 36 percent more than the truckmaker’s closing price before the bid was announced in February.

Volkswagen fell as much as 1.3 percent and was trading down 0.2 percent at 194.15 euros at 3:04 p.m. in Frankfurt. The shares have dropped 4.8 percent this year, valuing VW at 89.6 billion euros.

“The situation with Scania causes some uncertainty,” said Frank Schwope, a Hanover, Germany-based analyst at NordLB.

First-quarter operating profit at Porsche jumped 22 percent to 698 million euros, while earnings at the Audi premium division, the biggest contributor to group profit, increased 0.5 percent to 1.31 billion euros, Volkswagen said.

Models that Volkswagen is bringing out by the end of 2015 include new versions of the midsize VW Passat sedan and Audi A4. Among the fresh sport-utility vehicles are Audi’s Q7 and a new plug-in hybrid version of Porsche’s Cayenne.