Crisis-hit Porsche plunges to $1.1 billion quarterly loss

By Rachel More

BERLIN (Reuters) -Porsche swung to a bigger than expected operating loss in the third quarter, it said on Friday, plunging the German sports car maker deeper into crisis as it slows a shift to electric vehicles and battles to stem sinking sales in top market China.

The news highlights how the automaker, pitched as the epitome of German engineering prowess when it went public in 2022, has been thrown off course in recent months, most notably by U.S. import tariffs and a relentless price war in China.

The group's operating loss stood at 966 million euros ($1.1 billion) in the third quarter, down from a 974 million euro profit in the same period last year, hit by expenses to cover a major rollback on its EV expansion announced last month.

Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had expected an operating loss of 611 million euros in the July-to-September period.

HITTING 'TROUGH' IN 2025, HOPEFUL FOR 2026

"We expect 2025 to be the trough that precedes a noticeable improvement for Porsche from 2026 onwards," finance chief Jochen Breckner said, warning that "large-scale solutions" were needed in current restructuring talks with labour representatives.

Breckner said that U.S. import tariffs would result in a roughly 700 million euro hit this year, adding Porsche would propose a significantly lower dividend for 2025 compared with the 2.31 euros per preferred share paid for 2024.

Porsche CEO Oliver Blume, who is also CEO at parent Volkswagen, will hand over the top job at Porsche to ex-McLaren boss Michael Leiters at the start of 2026, the group said last week, following long-standing investor criticism over the dual role.

Leiters is set to inherit one of the biggest crises in Europe's beleaguered auto sector.

POSSIBILITY OF FURTHER JOB CUTS

"We have to assume that the general market conditions will not improve in the foreseeable future," Breckner said, amid negotiations about further job cuts.

Porsche already plans to cut 1,900 jobs in the coming years, on top of 2,000 layoffs for temporary workers this year, with a second package of measures expected by the end of the year.

Following a series of profit warnings this year, the carmaker maintained its guidance for 2025 on Friday, forecasting a return on sales of up to 2% - down from 14% last year.

For the whole year, Porsche expects a 3.1 billion euro hit to earnings from its EV strategy overhaul, a decision to scrap in-house battery production and restructuring costs.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Rachel More; Editing by Christoph Steitz and Mark Potter)