Volkswagen doubles its profit

By Anastasia Tomazhenkova: German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen AG posted that its 2007 net income nearly doubled to 4.1 billion euros (6.2 billion dollars) last year as it sold more than 6 million cars worldwide.

Photo: Volkswagen doubles its profit

The Wolfsburg-based company, Europe's biggest car maker in terms of sales, earned 4.1 billion euros last year compared with 2.7 billion euros in 2006. Its sales rose to 108.9 billion euros (165.2 billion dollars) last year, up almost 4% from the 104.8 billion euros in sales it posted in 2006.

Volkswagen, whose brands include Audi, Skoda, Seat, Lamborghini and Bentley, said the number of cars it sold was just less than 6.2 million in 2007, a new record and up nearly 8% from the 5.7 million cars it sold in 2006.

As a result, the company said it plans to offer a dividend of 1.80 euros (2.73 dollars) to its shareholders.

Shares of the company were down 3% to 149.48 euros (226.72 dollars) in Frankfurt trading.