STUTTGART – With its Cayenne sports utility vehicle roaring out of showrooms, German carmaker Porsche disclosed Monday a leap of 29.3 percent in six-month sales, saying turnover reached EUR 2.85 billion in the months ending 31 January.

Pre-tax consolidated earnings in the period were up 13.8 percent to EUR 211.3 million at stockmarket-listed Porsche, which uses a business year ending 31 July. Earnings after tax were up 17.3 percent to EUR 119.6 million.

Stuttgart-based Porsche, which has scored a success with the four- wheel-drive Cayenne, especially in the United States, said it sold 32,514 vehicles, both Cayennes and two-seater sports cars, a rise of 31.5 percent from the matching six months a year before.

Porsche stock, which figures on the MDAX index in Frankfurt, rose 1.4 percent to EUR 474.88 on the announcement, as Porsche said it was standing by its optimistic forecast of record sales in the current business year.

DPA
Subject: German news