Porsche forecasts loss 'in billions' after VW takeover

Porsche SE, the holding company established by the German car maker as a vehicle to take control of Volkswagen, said yesterday that it is expecting to record an annual "low single-digit billion euro range loss". The group also said that its debt has mushroomed to €11.4bn after its bid to acquire 75 per cent of Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, failed when credit markets seized up earlier this year.

Volkswagen now plans to buy a 49.9 per cent stake in Porsche's sports car arm by the end of the year, before completing the merger in 2011. On Tuesday Porsche appointed Martin Winterkorn and Hans Dieter Poetsch as its new chief executive and finance director, the same jobs that each hold at Volkswagen. Porsche's debt levels were higher than expected, while the loss will result in a second consecutive year when the company has lost multiple billions of euros.