Volkswagen says profits raced ahead by 86 pct in 1st quarter

[1]

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, said on Thursday it got off to a 'successful' start to 2012, with net profit nearly doubling in the first three months.

VW said in a statement its net profit motored ahead 86 percent to 3.186 billion euros ($4.222 billion) in the period from January to March on a 26.3-percent rise in sales to 47.326 billion euros.

Underlying earnings, as measured by operating profit, revved up 10.2 percent to 3.209 billion euros, as the auto giant sold 11.3 percent more cars -- 2.26 million worldwide -- in the three-month period, it said.

The numbers were better than expected, driving VW shares 4.2 percent higher on the Frankfurt stock exchange to 131.5 euros.