German carmaking giant Volkswagen recorded increased profits last year, benefiting from improvements in day-to-day business, the company said Wednesday.
Profit after tax rose from €15.8 billion ($17.3 billion) in the previous year to €17.9 billion, the DAX-listed company announced in Berlin. This represents an increase of around 13%.
Europe's largest car manufacturer had already presented the majority of its figures at the beginning of March.
Thanks to a 12% increase in deliveries, turnover climbed at a rate of 15.5% to €322.3 billion.
Operating profit, on the other hand, rose by just over 2% to €22.6 billion.
The Volkswagen Group had also already made a proposal for an increased dividend of €9.06 per preference share.
The group, with its core brands VW, Skoda, Seat and VW Commercial Vehicles, increased its return on sales from 3.6% to 5.3%, which was mainly due to the increase in sales, it said.
The business with the mass brands is not as profitable as chief executive Oliver Blume would like, which is why a multi-billion euro savings programme with job cuts is under way in this area.
Blume said that his own salary, as well as pay for the entire management board at the Volkswagen Group, would be reduced by 5% as part of the cost-cutting programme.
"We consider this to be an important signal that we as the management board are also making our contribution and starting with ourselves first," Blume said on Wednesday at a press conference in Berlin.
Blume received total remuneration of €8,723,605.98 in 2023, according to the annual report. He also serves as chief executive of sportscar maker Porsche, a Volkswagen subsidiary.
However, the paycuts announced by Blume on Wednesday will only apply to his fixed salary as VW's chief executive of €1.3 million, which amounts to a cut of €65,000 in 2024. He also is paid an €800,000 salary for his position at Porsche, and receives bonuses and other forms of compensation.
Volkswagen's luxury vehicle brand Audi, meanwhile, would have achieved a better margin in 2023 without the costs of hedging raw materials, the company said.
Cariad, the software division, increased its operating loss to €2.4 billion.
Financial Services performed weaker than in the record years before.
