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. Initial talks on the integration of the Scania subgroup into central financial management were held following the delisting of Scania AB’s shares. The integration process for the MAN subgroup has not yet been completed.

With regard to liquidity, the goals of financial management are 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. The Group’s material companies in Europe also use cash pooling to optimize the use of existing liquidity. This enables Group companies to pool the balances accumulating on cash pooling accounts on a daily basis by closing out these accounts and transferring both the positive and negative balances to a target account at Group Treasury. 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 for the volume of business per counterparty when entering into financial transactions. Various rating criteria are taken into account when setting these limits, including the ratings awarded by independent agencies and the capital resources of potential counterparties. 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 2014 consolidated financial statements.

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CASH FLOW STATEMENT BY DIVISION

 

 

 

 

 

 

VOLKSWAGEN GROUP

 

AUTOMOTIVE1

 

FINANCIAL SERVICES

€ million

 

2014

 

2013

 

2014

 

2013

 

2014

 

2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 to investing activities.

4

Before consolidation of intragroup transactions: €22,217 million (€21,270 million).

5

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

6

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

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

 

22,009

 

17,794

 

19,285

 

14,788

 

2,724

 

3,005

Profit before tax

 

14,794

 

12,428

 

12,829

 

10,462

 

1,965

 

1,966

Income taxes paid

 

−4,040

 

−3,107

 

−3,489

 

−2,622

 

−552

 

−486

Depreciation and amortization expense2

 

16,964

 

14,686

 

12,320

 

10,786

 

4,644

 

3,900

Change in pension provisions

 

148

 

179

 

137

 

168

 

12

 

11

Other noncash income/expense and reclassifications3

 

−1,317

 

218

 

−1,631

 

−107

 

313

 

325

Gross cash flow

 

26,549

 

24,404

 

20,166

 

18,688

 

6,383

 

5,716

Change in working capital

 

−15,764

 

−11,809

 

1,427

 

1,925

 

−17,191

 

−13,733

Change in inventories

 

−2,214

 

−1,021

 

−2,111

 

−729

 

−103

 

−292

Change in receivables

 

−1,433

 

−1,651

 

983

 

−1,163

 

−2,416

 

−489

Change in liabilities

 

4,764

 

2,363

 

3,228

 

2,118

 

1,536

 

245

Change in other provisions

 

413

 

2,300

 

514

 

2,241

 

−101

 

59

Change in lease assets (excluding depreciation)

 

−8,487

 

−7,112

 

−749

 

−465

 

−7,738


 

−6,647

Change in financial services receivables

 

−8,807

 

−6,688

 

−438

 

−77

 

−8,370

 

−6,611

Cash flows from operating activities

 

10,784

 

12,595

 

21,5934

 

20,6124

 

−10,809

 

−8,017

Cash flows from investing activities attributable to operating activities

 

−16,452

 

−14,936

 

−15,476

 

−16,199

 

−976

 

1,263

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

 

−12,012

 

−11,385

 

−11,495

 

−11,040

 

−517

 

−345

capitalized development costs

 

−4,601

 

−4,021

 

−4,601

 

−4,021

 

 

acquisition and disposal of equity investments

 

−242

 

−151

 

242

 

−1,702

 

−485

 

1,551

Net cash flow5

 

−5,668

 

−2,341

 

6,117

 

4,413

 

−11,784

 

−6,754

Change in investments in securities and loans

 

−2,647

 

−1,954

 

−1,694

 

−1,298

 

−953

 

−656

Cash flows from investing activities

 

−19,099

 

−16,890

 

−17,170

 

−17,497

 

−1,928

 

607

Cash flows from financing activities

 

4,645

 

8,973

 

−7,945

 

1,734

 

12,590

 

7,239

of which: capital transactions with noncontrolling interests

 

−6,535

 

0

 

−6,535

 

0

 

 

Capital contributions/ capital redemptions

 

4,932

 

3,067

 

2,605

 

3,015

 

2,326

 

52

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

 

294

 

−462

 

248

 

−353

 

46

 

−110

Net change in cash and cash equivalents

 

−3,375

 

4,216

 

−3,275

 

4,497

 

−100

 

−281

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at Dec. 316

 

18,634

 

22,009

 

16,010

 

19,285

 

2,624

 

2,724

Securities, loans and time deposits

 

18,893

 

17,177

 

11,424

 

9,515

 

7,468

 

7,661

Gross liquidity

 

37,527

 

39,186

 

27,435

 

28,800

 

10,092

 

10,386

Total third-party borrowings

 

−133,980

 

−121,504

 

−9,795

 

−11,932

 

−124,184

 

−109,572

Net liquidity

 

−96,453

 

−82,318

 

17,639

 

16,869

 

−114,092

 

−99,186