By Bernd Zeberl, dpa-AFX, and Julian Weber, dpa
German luxury sports car manufacturer Porsche has unexpectedly had to lower its forecasts due to flood damage at an aluminium supplier.
The Stuttgart-based company now expects revenue between €39 billion and €40 billion ($42.4 billion-$43.5 billion), it said on Tuesday. Previously, Porsche’s management, led by chief executive Oliver Blume, had planned for revenue between €40 billion and €42 billion for the current year.
According to reports, the flooding of a production facility of a major European aluminium supplier is currently causing significant supply bottlenecks.
“Body parts made from aluminium that are used in all Porsche vehicle series are affected,” the Volkswagen subsidiary announced.
Despite countermeasures taken, it is apparent that the impending supply shortages will impact production.
Production stops threatened
“These are expected to last several weeks and could possibly lead to production stops of individual or several vehicle series,” it stated.
Delays in production and vehicle deliveries are expected to remain unaddressed throughout the business year.
Consequently, Porsche is also revising its forecast for its operating margin, the proportion of profit in day-to-day business relative to revenue.
The figure is now expected to be between 14% and 15%; Previously, Porsche had aimed for a margin between 15% and 17%.
The corporation had already set cautious targets for 2024, partly due to several model changes that incur high initial costs.
Sales down in first half of year
Porsche plans to publish figures for the first six months of the year on Wednesday.
Analysts have so far assumed that the car manufacturer could meet its 2024 targets despite current problems in the important Chinese market.
It is already known that Porsche sold fewer cars in the first half of the year, particularly in China, where sales fell by a third.
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