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Porsche expects to write off its stake in Volkswagen by up to 40 percent, as uncertainty over potential plant closures and strikes has forced Europe's largest carmaker to withhold its annual financial plan.
The Porsche-Piech family holding company said on Friday it expects to write down the value of its stake in Volkswagen by between €7 billion and €20 billion, because a lack of financial data from the company means it has had to rely on analyst forecasts.
For the same reasons, it expects to write down its stake in sports car maker Porsche AG, which is partially listed in 2022, by €1 billion to €2 billion.
Porsche added that the book value of both stakes “will remain significantly higher than their stock market values.”
As of September, Porsche SE valued its 53.3 percent stake in Volkswagen voting stock at €51.5 billion, and its 25 percent stake plus one share in Porsche AG voting stock at €10.5 billion.
The announcement of the expected delisting comes as Volkswagen prepares to enter the fifth round of negotiations with the IG Metall union on Monday, amid… Confrontation with workers Due to plans to close some German factories and lay off tens of thousands of workers.
The powerful works board of IG Metall and VW has strongly resisted the restructuring plans, which executives said were necessary because of a structural decline in European car sales.
CFO Arno Antlitz September Volkswagen's flagship brand now sells nearly 500,000 fewer cars a year than before the pandemic, Volkswagen has warned.
During the same time period, the brand's share of sales in China – its most profitable market – fell by almost half, amid a consumer shift towards electric and hybrid vehicles and increasing competition from local rivals there such as BYD.
But labor representatives argued that merely cutting costs would not address the decline in sales, and accused executives of making poor product decisions.
on monday, Workers Most of Volkswagen's German factories stopped working for the second time in a month, exiting their shifts four hours early – double the duration of strikes the previous week.
IG Metall warned that if Volkswagen did not abandon its plan to close factories, strikes would become more severe.
