It was broadly cutting costs to help it hit its longer-term 20% return on sales target and expected new opportunities such as its after sales business to play a bigger role in future, he said.
Shares in Porsche, a Volkswagen AG subsidiary that listed on the stock market just under two years ago, have sunk 42% since last May as setbacks — from software problems to launch delays and weakening sales in China — have shaken investor confidence.
Asked if the EU is likely to go ahead with a planned phase-out of new CO2-emitting cars, Blume predicted the regulation would be loosened to allow combustion engine vehicles to be sold if driven on synthetic fuels.
Porsche said earlier this week the transition to all-electric sales would take longer than previously forecast, echoing warnings from other carmaker executives in recent months that goals for a full transition to EVs were too ambitious.
This has raised pressure on Blume, whose double role as CEO of Porsche AG and Volkswagen has already stoked concerns about whether one individual can lead two German blue-chip companies.
Porsche's operating profit fell by just over a fifth in the first half to €3.06bn (R60.86bn), it said on Wednesday, with sales down 4.8% to €19.46bn (R387.03bn).
Its operating return on sales was 15.7%, just above the reduced outlook for the year announced on Tuesday of 14-15%.
Porsche bids to restore production, boost margins after weak first half
Image: Supplied
Porsche said it was fighting to restore production volumes and reprioritise spending after supply chain snags, slow electric vehicle (EV) demand and a sales slump in China weighed on results in the first half.
The luxury sports car maker was hit harder than rivals by recent aluminium supply shortages in Europe because of its high percentage of pre-ordered cars, low volumes and detailed car specifications, CEO Oliver Blume said on a call with reporters.
The dent in sales could not be compensated within months, forcing Porsche to lower its forecast for profit margin over sales, CFO Lutz Meschke said.
Shares were up 0.8% in morning trading, having earlier gained 2%, recouping some losses on Tuesday after it disclosed the impact of the shortage at a European aluminium supplier.
Slower EV demand in Europe and China's luxury segments had prompted the carmaker to refocus its budget, Meschke said.
Porsche cuts forecasts after flood at Swiss aluminium alloy supplier
It was broadly cutting costs to help it hit its longer-term 20% return on sales target and expected new opportunities such as its after sales business to play a bigger role in future, he said.
Shares in Porsche, a Volkswagen AG subsidiary that listed on the stock market just under two years ago, have sunk 42% since last May as setbacks — from software problems to launch delays and weakening sales in China — have shaken investor confidence.
Asked if the EU is likely to go ahead with a planned phase-out of new CO2-emitting cars, Blume predicted the regulation would be loosened to allow combustion engine vehicles to be sold if driven on synthetic fuels.
Porsche said earlier this week the transition to all-electric sales would take longer than previously forecast, echoing warnings from other carmaker executives in recent months that goals for a full transition to EVs were too ambitious.
This has raised pressure on Blume, whose double role as CEO of Porsche AG and Volkswagen has already stoked concerns about whether one individual can lead two German blue-chip companies.
Porsche's operating profit fell by just over a fifth in the first half to €3.06bn (R60.86bn), it said on Wednesday, with sales down 4.8% to €19.46bn (R387.03bn).
Its operating return on sales was 15.7%, just above the reduced outlook for the year announced on Tuesday of 14-15%.
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