Porsche AG profit increases by 8.3%

Porsche AG, Europe’s most profitable carmaker, said full-year profit rose 8.3%, helped by the first full year of sales of the Cayenne sport-utility vehicle and currency hedging.

Net income in the 12 months ended July 31 rose to €612 million from €565 million a year earlier, Porsche said in a statement to the Frankfurt exchange.

Profit lagged the €642 million estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking introduced the Cayenne in 2002 to counter declining demand for older versions of the 911 model and Boxster sports cars in Europe and the US over the past three years.