Hello and welcome to our analyst and investor statement on the first half 2025 of Porsche AG. My name is Björn Scheib and with me is our CEO Oliver Blume and our CFO Jochen Breckner. Today we would like to give you a brief insight of our business performance of the first half 2025. All materials such as the Investor's Deck or half year financial report are available in the investor section of the Porsche website. Before we begin, let me remind you that any forward looking statements we will make during this statement are subject to the risks and uncertainties mentioned in the Safe harbor statement included in the Porsche materials. This intro will also be governed by this language. With that I'd like to hand over to Oli.
Good morning everyone. It's great to have you with us today. We are here to give you a clear update on how our business has developed in the first half of the year. Joining me is our CFO Jochen Breckner. He'll walk you through the numbers in just a moment. Let's start with the big picture. At Porsche, we continue to face major global challenges which are having a substantial negative impact on our results. In that regard, we are not where we want to be and certainly not where Porsche belongs in our view. That's why we are pushing ahead at full speed with our strategic realignment and rescaling of the company. Three key factors are currently shaping the situation. External influences that are beyond our control and that were beyond prediction. The first is China. Demand in the premium and luxury segments is very weak.
In the mass market, local brands are pushing hard with aggressive pricing. That's changing the entire competitive landscape and pricing expectations in the market. Nevertheless, we decided to keep our leading principle, value over volume. Second, the United States. The import tariffs are putting significant pressure on our business. Looking ahead, the development of the dollar could become an additional challenge. Now that the EU and the U.S. have reached an agreement on tariffs, we have adjusted our outlook accordingly. Jochen will outline the key takeaways shortly. Third, electric mobility. Our electric cars are gaining high market shares, much higher than those of other traditional manufacturers. The shift to electric in absolute volume is moving much slower than expected. This leads to consequences in the supply chain and our own investments in E mobility.
At the same time, we have decided to invest significantly in making our drivetrains and our supply network even more flexible. These three challenges hit Porsche hard. China and the U.S. are by far our largest individual markets. On top of that, we have placed a strong focus on electromobility in recent years. Beside these external headwinds, the changing conditions clearly show where we need to take action within the company to improve our break even situation. We need to do our homework, especially when it comes to our cost structure across all areas in our products and throughout the company. We also need to deliver perfect quality, manage our suppliers and optimize our sales efforts. For all of this, we have put a clear plan in place.
We have updated our product strategy to reflect new realities, the different needs of global regions, the slower pace of electrification, and the changing expectations of our customers. We are doubling down on what truly defines Porsche: emotional sports cars. We are continuing with a balanced approach, combustion engines, hybrids, and electric sports cars. That means we are fully committed to our electrification strategy. At the same time, we are expanding our lineup of combustion and hybrid models. Over the past few months, we have introduced multiple key innovations across all model lines, and we are not slowing down. We are now just about to launch the new high-end derivative of the 911, our icon, the best 911 ever, for the first time in history, with an extremely sporty hybrid drivetrain. The new all-electric Cayenne is also just around the corner.
It will set new standards in design, in technology, in performance, in electric driving, and in software. Despite all challenges, the first half of the year has shown one thing clearly. Our new product portfolio is very well received by customers and by the media. In North America, for example, we achieved a new sales record in a recently published J.D. Power appeal study. In the U.S., Porsche ranks first among all manufacturers in customer perception. The first half of the year has also shown Porsche can do electric. In Europe, Porsche continues to outperform the overall market in electrified vehicle adoption. 36% of our cars delivered in the first half were fully electric. Almost 57% were electrified, including hybrids. In Europe, we have achieved our initial goal from the IPO to sell more than 50% of electrified vehicles in 2025. We have also started to adapt our internal structures.
As you know, our cost structure is geared toward a production volume of 250,000 cars a year. Let me be clear once again, this is about cost structure, not sales target. We plan to reduce around 1,900 jobs in indirect areas of Porsche AG by 2029. We are also letting temporary contracts expire, reducing the workforce by another 2,000. In addition, as outlined before, we will now begin discussions with employee representatives about a second package of measures. The entire year 2025 is significantly shaped by this strategic realignment. We expect to move through the lowest point this year and begin to see positive momentum from 2026 onwards. Now Jochen Breckner will walk you through the numbers in more detail. Jochen, over to you.
Oliver, thank you very much. It's a pleasure to present our results of the first half of 2025. We are advancing our comprehensive strategic realignment here. We have a clear focus on rescaling and recalibrating our business model, especially in product strategy and corporate footprint. With this, we want to further strengthen our profitability and resilience in the short and medium term. In the first half of 2025, Porsche AG Group sold around 135,000 vehicles, reflecting an 11% decline year- on- year. In deliveries to customers, we achieved a total of 146,000 vehicles. The Macan performed strongly and became our best selling model with more than 43,000 units, including 25,000 fully electric vehicles. While growth in the exclusive segment is progressing more gradually than initially anticipated, Porsche is well positioned in all global markets where the exclusive best segment is emerging.
The all electric Macan is already securing a leading position within our portfolio. The BEV Macan currently achieved the highest order intake across all model lines, underscoring its strong market appeal and strategic importance. Volume declines for Cayenne, 911, and Taycan were due to model changeover effects, staggered derivative launches, and the consistent implementation of our value driven sales strategy. Boxster and Cayman were impacted by limited availability stemming from cybersecurity regulation requirements in Europe. Incoming orders remain robust. This underlines a strong brand desirability even in a challenging geopolitical environment. Individualization and favorable mix continue to provide positive momentum. Our Group revenue in H1 amounted to EUR 18.2 billion, down 7% year- over- year, mainly due to lower volumes. Positive pricing along with growth in our financial services business partially offset the decline.
Cost of sales increased by EUR 500 million to EUR 14.8 billion, with the cost ratio significantly above historic levels due to higher material costs, R&D expenses, and special items. These include around EUR 500 million related to our battery activities and around EUR 400 million from U.S. import tariffs. CO2 related provisioning also rose year- on- year. Distribution costs declined to EUR 1.3 billion, while administrative costs slightly increased, partly due to organizational adjustments. In total, we accounted for extraordinary expenses of approximately EUR 1.1 billion in H1, including those related to strategic realignment, battery activities, and U.S. tariffs. These measures, while substantial, are essential steps in positioning Porsche for long term resilience and sustainable growth. As a result, Porsche AG's group's operating profit decreased to EUR 1 billion in the first half of 2025 with an operating return on sales of 5.5%.
Result after taxes declined to EUR 718 million, equating to $0.8 per preferred share. The operating result in our Automotive segment was EUR 800 million on revenues of EUR 16.1 billion, translating to a return on sales of 5.2%. Almost all of these extraordinary charges outlined earlier impacted this segment. Net cash flow from automotive activities amounted to EUR 0.4 billion. Working capital outflows were driven primarily by inventory changes in two regions, namely the U.S. and China, totaling approximately EUR 700 million. The net cash flow includes extraordinary outflows around EUR 500 million. In connection with the strategic realignment and tariffs, revenues from financial services increased to EUR 2.2 billion with an operating result of EUR 145 million. This reflects a larger portfolio and stronger margins, partially offset by higher credit risk provisions and lower valuation effects from residual value and hedging instruments as part of regular financing activities.
R&D spending in the Automotive segment totaled EUR 1.3 billion, significantly lower from EUR 1.7 billion in 2024, resulting in an R&D ratio of 7.8%. Capitalized development costs declined by more than EUR 500 million, which with a capitalization ratio of 46%, far lower year- over- year, depreciation of capitalized R&D rose to EUR 0.6 billion. In total, P&L accounted R&D increased by EUR 200 million to EUR 1.3 billion. Automotive net liquidity stood at EUR 6.2 billion as of June 30, down by EUR 2.4 billion since year end 2024, primarily due to dividend payments. Net cash flow from operations partially offset this decline. Our guidance is based on today's global environment marked by geopolitical uncertainty and ongoing supply chain fragility. In China, challenging conditions in the luxury segment are impacting demand. We are responding with a consistent value based sales approach.
Rising supplier costs are expected to continue to weigh in on our margin. In light of the slower market uptake of exclusive BEVs, we are realigning our battery strategy. Porsche will no longer independently pursue the expansion of a high-performance battery production via Cellforce Group. As a result, total extraordinary expenses in connection with our strategic realignment have increased from initially around EUR 800 million to now EUR 1.3 billion. With that, let me turn to the outlook. We plan to continue our model offensive and customer-focused product strategy supported by a solid order book that underpins our top line expectations. Porsche remains well positioned from both a product and pricing perspective. There are also no changes to our underlying assumptions regarding our unit sales, supply chain conditions, and cost trends. Based on this framework, Porsche would have been in a position to reaffirm its original outlook.
Despite ongoing market headwinds, Porsche remains a strong advocate for dialogue, open markets, and stable trade relations. These are fundamental to a competitive economy, especially for the automotive industry and our company. Following the EU-U.S. agreement on U.S. tariffs reached Sunday, we have revised our 2025 outlook to reflect both the newly announced and previously excluded June tariff measures. Our updated forecast now incorporates the 15% import tariffs expected as effective from August 1st alongside potential mitigation strategies. These include pricing adjustments designed to partially offset the financial impact. As a result, we expect group revenue in the range of EUR 37 billion-EUR 38 billion, unchanged from our previous guidance. At the lower end of the bandwidth, we anticipate a group return on sales of 5% and an automotive net cash flow margin of around 3%.
At the upper end of the bandwidth, the group return on sales is expected to reach 7% and an automotive net cash flow margin of 5%. The upper end remains well within the range of our initial guidance. From the end of April, the outlook includes expected extraordinary expenses in connection with our strategic realignment initiatives of around EUR 1.3 billion. Additionally, we maintain a robust currency hedging strategy with substantial exposure already secured for 2025 and beyond. As Oliver highlighted, our business framework has evolved significantly over the last two years and is not expected to stabilize in the foreseeable future. While our established business model served us well for the last years, today's market realities require a recalibrated approach to remain at the forefront of innovation and performance. We are sharpening our focus in terms of product strategy, organization, and cost structure.
This strategic realignment is essential to ensure Porsche continues to deliver excellence in both product quality and financial performance. Our ambition remains unchanged. Porsche stands for exceptional engineering, entrepreneurial spirit, and sustainable success. These values continue to guide us as we shape the future of the brand. To achieve this, we have refined our product strategy to reflect regional market dynamics and the evolving pace of electrification. Our portfolio is now designed for greater flexibility, offering a balanced mix of combustion engines, plug-in hybrids, and battery electric vehicles. This enables us to serve our customers with an even more compelling range of products across the segments that matter most to Porsche.
Key elements of our new product strategy decided so far: a more flexible mix of ICE, PHEV, and BEV offerings, introduction of a combustion-powered B SUV by decade's end, extended availability of Cayenne and Panamera ICE and Hybrid variants, and expansion of halo vehicles and Sonderwunsch program to rescale operations and strengthen resilience. We have already initiated key measures: comprehensive workforce reduction by 2029. As of now, 15%. This corresponds to around 1,900 direct and around 2,000 fixed-term roles. Acceleration of Road to 20 initiatives to enhance cost savings, and we are also taking decisive steps in China. We are making our dealer network more efficient. We'll continue to invest in high-demand locations, but where long-term profitability is no longer viable, will reduce our footprint from around 150 dealerships to about 100 by 2027.
Considering the geopolitical and industrial dynamics, our strategic realignment activities will be expanded to increase our financial resilience. In addition to these immediate measures, as Oliver mentioned earlier, Management and Works Council will negotiate an additional structural package in the second half of the year. These efforts will support our financial resilience and future earnings and cash flow. Before closing, let me briefly touch on our capital allocation strategy. Due to additional product initiatives tied to our strategic realignment, we expect R&D spending to peak this year and next before declining. Our strong cash conversion will support, underpinning our commitment to a 50% dividend payout. We will maintain automotive net liquidity with our target range of 15%-20% of segment revenue. With that I hand over to Oliver Blume. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Jochen. As you can see, 2025 is a very challenging year. We are using it to move Porsche forward. We are rescaling and recalibrating our company. That puts additional pressure on our results. We are willing to accept that. Our goal is to sharpen our brand, to make our products even more individual, more exclusive, and more desirable, and to position Porsche for strong long term profitability. Thank you very much.