Volkswagen cash flow down but sales in line with forecast

German automotive giant Volkswagen reported Tuesday net cash flow for the fiscal year 2022 was significantly below its target, despite sales as expected, reported dpa.

The company reported group sales of €279 billion ($299 billion) in fiscal year 2022, compared to the previous estimation of 8% to 13% above prior-year figure of €250.2 billion.

Group operating profit before special items was around €22.5 billion. The expected return on sales were at around 8.1%. The company's previous outlook for return on sales in 2022 were 7.0% to 8.5% of Group sales.

Net liquidity of the Automotive Division at December 31, 2022 was about €43 billion, including around €16 billion cash inflows from the IPO of Porsche AG conducted in September 2022.

Volkswagen's net cash flow was around €5 billion in fiscal 2022, falling short of its target of achieving net cash flow at the level of the previous year's €8.6 billion.

The deviation was mainly due to the unstable supply situation throughout 2022 and disruptions in the logistics chains, particularly at the end of the year.

As a result, working capital and in particular inventories of finished goods, raw materials and supplies at the end of the year were significantly higher than expected.

Current planning for 2023 suggests that this year-end 2022 increase in working capital will largely reverse during the year.

Volkswagen plans to publish its annual report on March 14.