Financial Position

PRINCIPLES AND GOALS OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Financial management at the Volkswagen Group covers liquidity management, currency, interest rate and commodity risk management, as well as credit and country risk management. It is performed centrally for all Group companies by Group Treasury, based on internal directives and risk parameters. The MAN and Porsche Holding Salzburg subgroups are integrated into the main financial management functions, while Scania is integrated to a very limited extent. Additionally, these subgroups have their own well-established financial management structures.

The goal of liquidity management is to ensure that the Volkswagen Group remains solvent at all times and at the same time to generate an adequate return from the investment of surplus funds. We use cash pooling to optimize the use of existing liquidity between the significant companies in Europe. To do this, the – positive or negative – balances accumulating on the cash pooling accounts are swept daily into a target account at Group Treasury and thus pooled. Currency, interest rate and commodity risk management is designed to hedge the prices on which investment, production and sales plans are based using derivative financial instruments. Credit and country risk management aims to use diversification to avoid exposing the Volkswagen Group to the risk of loss or default. To achieve this, internal limits are defined on the basis of various credit risks for the volume of business per counterparty when entering into financial transactions. These primarily focus on the capital resources of potential counterparties, as well as the ratings awarded by independent agencies. The relevant risk limits and the authorized financial instruments, hedging methods and hedging horizons are approved by the Executive Committee for Liquidity and Foreign Currency.

For additional information on the principles and goals of financial management, please refer to chapter “Financial risks” and and to the notes to the 2015 consolidated financial statements.

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CASH FLOW STATEMENT BY DIVISION

 

 

 

 

 

 

VOLKSWAGEN GROUP

 

AUTOMOTIVE1

 

FINANCIAL SERVICES

€ million

 

2015

 

2014

 

2015

 

2014

 

2015

 

2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Including allocation of consolidation adjustments between the Automotive and Financial Services divisions.

2

Net of impairment reversals.

3

These relate mainly to the fair value measurement of financial instruments, application of the equity method and reclassification of gains/losses on disposal of noncurrent assets and equity investments to investing activities.

4

Net cash flow: cash flows from operating activities, net of cash flows from investing activities attributable to operating activities.

5

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at banks, checks, cash-in-hand and call deposits.

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

 

18,634

 

22,009

 

16,010

 

19,285

 

2,624

 

2,724

Earnings before tax

 

−1,301

 

14,794

 

−3,634

 

12,829

 

2,333

 

1,965

Income taxes paid

 

−3,238

 

−4,040

 

−2,985

 

−3,489

 

−254

 

−552

Depreciation and amortization expense2

 

19,693

 

16,964

 

13,516

 

12,320

 

6,176

 

4,644

Change in pension provisions

 

309

 

148

 

295

 

137

 

14

 

12

Other noncash income/expense and reclassifications3

 

817

 

−1,317

 

325

 

−1,631

 

493

 

313

Gross cash flow

 

16,280

 

26,549

 

7,518

 

20,166

 

8,762

 

6,383

Change in working capital

 

−2,601

 

−15,764

 

16,278

 

1,427

 

−18,880

 

−17,191

Change in inventories

 

−3,149

 

−2,214

 

−2,706

 

−2,111

 

−444

 

−103

Change in receivables

 

−1,807

 

−1,433

 

−1,001

 

983

 

−805

 

−2,416

Change in liabilities

 

2,807

 

4,764

 

2,641

 

3,228

 

166

 

1,536

Change in other provisions

 

18,019

 

413

 

17,989

 

514

 

30

 

−101

Change in lease assets (excluding depreciation)

 

−10,808

 

−8,487

 

−765

 

−749

 

−10,043

 

−7,738

Change in financial services receivables

 

−7,663

 

−8,807

 

120

 

−438

 

−7,784

 

−8,370

Cash flows from operating activities

 

13,679

 

10,784

 

23,796

 

21,593

 

−10,117

 

−10,809

Cash flows from investing activities attributable to operating activities

 

−15,523

 

−16,452

 

−14,909

 

−15,476

 

−614

 

−976

of which: investments in property, plant and equipment, investment property and intangible assets, excluding capitalized development costs

 

−13,213

 

−12,012

 

−12,738

 

−11,495

 

−476

 

−517

capitalized development costs

 

−5,021

 

−4,601

 

−5,021

 

−4,601

 

 

acquisition and disposal of equity investments

 

2,178

 

−242

 

2,361

 

242

 

−183

 

−485

Net cash flow4

 

−1,845

 

−5,668

 

8,887

 

6,117

 

−10,731

 

−11,784

Change in investments in securities and loans

 

−5,628

 

−2,647

 

−3,506

 

−1,694

 

−2,122

 

−953

Cash flows from investing activities

 

−21,151

 

−19,099

 

−18,415

 

−17,170

 

−2,736

 

−1,928

Cash flows from financing activities

 

9,068

 

4,645

 

−6,333

 

−7,945

 

15,401

 

12,590

of which: capital transactions with noncontrolling interests

 

−0

 

−6,535

 

−0

 

−6,535

 

 

Capital contributions/capital redemptions

 

2,457

 

4,932

 

140

 

2,605

 

2,317

 

2,326

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

 

232

 

294

 

236

 

248

 

−4

 

46

Net change in cash and cash equivalents

 

1,828

 

−3,375

 

−717

 

−3,275

 

2,544

 

−100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at Dec. 315

 

20,462

 

18,634

 

15,294

 

16,010

 

5,168

 

2,624

Securities, loans and time deposits

 

24,613

 

18,893

 

14,812

 

11,424

 

9,801

 

7,468

Gross liquidity

 

45,075

 

37,527

 

30,105

 

27,435

 

14,969

 

10,092

Total third-party borrowings

 

−145,604

 

−133,980

 

−5,583

 

−9,795

 

−140,021

 

−124,184

Net liquidity

 

−100,530

 

−96,453

 

24,522

 

17,639

 

−125,052

 

−114,092