VW second-quarter profit to at least match year-ago result - CFO
BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) group's second-quarter operating profit should at least match last year's level of 4.55 billion euros (3.97 billion pounds), finance chief Frank Witter said.
Underlying profit in the April-to-June period should "at the very minimum" match last year's figure, Witter said on Thursday during an earnings call, after VW published a 3.6 percent drop in first-quarter profit on accounting changes.
Separately, the CFO said Volkswagen was still incurring "way too high" losses in the United States but thanks to a raft of new products, it will stick to a goal of breaking even in the Americas by 2020.
VW's Witter said the carmaker will continue to review its portfolio of brands and assets for potential divestments but declined to comment in detail about possible steps.
Cash outflows to cover costs of VW's diesel emissions scandal are expected to total about 4 billion euros this year, the CFO said. VW said on Thursday it has made no further significant provisions for the scandal in the first quarter.
(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Edward Taylor)
