VW Q1 profit drops nearly 4% on accounting, currency, tech-cost factors

BERLIN -- Volkswagen Group posted a surprise drop in first-quarter operating profit as accounting changes, currency headwinds and technology costs weighed on results.

Group earnings before interest and taxes declined 3.6 percent to 4.21 billion euros ($5.13 billion), VW said in a statement on Thursday, below the 4.47 billion-euro consensus forecast in a Reuters poll of banks and brokerages.

Without the accounting changes, operating profit came in slightly above last year's level of 4.37 billion euros, VW said.

The automaker stuck to its 2018 guidance published in February, predicting a return on sales of between 6.5 and 7.5 percent before special items, compared with 7.4 percent last year.

Revenue is expected to exceed the 2017 record of 231 billion euros by as much as 5 percent while group deliveries may moderately exceed last year's 10.7 million vehicles, VW said.