Volkswagen says 2nd-quarter profit up 14 percent as unit sales rise, though revenues slip

Germany's Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automaker, says its net income rose 14.1 percent in the second quarter although revenues slipped even as unit sales pushed higher.

Volkswagen AG said its profit in the April-June period was 3.25 billion euros ($4.35 billion), up from 2.85 billion a year earlier. Revenue slipped 2.2 percent to 50.98 billion euros although there was a 5.6 percent increase in the number of vehicles sold, to 2.62 million.

Volkswagen said that revenue was hurt by "significant negative exchange rate effects" and also said that, while global demand for passenger cars continued to rise in the year's first half, "the pace of growth eased off" and regional trends were mixed.

The company maintained its full-year outlook.