Porsche to cut more jobs after costly reversal of electric car strategy
Porsche is to cut more jobs after profits were largely cancelled out by a costly writedown on reversing its electric car strategy, as the luxury manufacturer also battled a prolonged sales slump in China.The German carmaker appointed a new chief executive, Michael Leiters, on 1 January after four profit warnings last year that also contributed to it tumbling out of Germany’s DAX stock index.“The streamlining of the company needs to be sharpened and this will lead to further job reductions,” said Leiters on Wednesday.Porsche employs about 40,000 people and has previously said it would make about 3,900 job cuts by 2030.“We will streamline our management structure, reduce hierarchies and cut back on bureaucracy,” said Leiters, adding that more details would come in the autumn.
Porsche has struggled with rising competition in China, a key market for European luxury firms, where homegrown car manufacturers’ sales are booming.China accounted for about 15% of car deliveries, down from 18% the previous year.Meanwhile Donald Trump’s car tariffs have also hurt its sales in North America.The company imports all of the vehicles it sells in the US – still its biggest market – where the tariffs cost it about €700m in 2025.Porsche said total deliveries fell 10% to 279,000 cars, causing revenue to slump 12% to €32.
2bn.Operating profit fell to €413m from €5.6bn the previous year.Amid the crisis, Porsche is walking back on a once ambitious electric car strategy, resulting in a €3.9bn writedown – a balance sheet correction that acknowledges the cost of changing tack, rather than immediate cash losses.
“We are using the current challenges as an opportunity to act even more decisively,” said Leiters.“We will comprehensively reposition Porsche, make the company leaner, faster and the products even more desirable.”Porsche’s torrid year also hit its parent company, Volkswagen, which warned it would need to make more dramatic job cuts earlier this week.VW said it would shed 50,000 jobs by the end of the decade, as it faced falling sales in China and North America.Porsche has historically been one of the German car giant’s key profit drivers, boasting an operating margin of 14.
5% in 2024 – compared to margins of between 3% and 6% for most carmakers.Its operating margin slumped to just 1.1% last year, which it said could rise to 5.5% in 2026.The company has been forced to delay several planned electric car models in favour of adding more vehicles powered by internal combustion engine, which are more profitable.
Those include electric versions of its Boxster and Cayman models, which are now expected to come in 2027 – hit in part by the bankruptcy of the battery manufacturer Northvolt.An electric SUV model, the K1, announced to fanfare in 2023, has also been pushed to around 2029, and is also expected to include hybrid and petrol options.Earlier in the week, VW warned that global turbulence caused by the US-Israeli military action against Iran would would negatively affect its outlook.Porsche said the potential impact of the war had not been taken into account in its forecasts.
Billionaire Zara founder Amancio Ortega to receive €3.23bn dividend
The billionaire founder of Zara is to receive a company record €3.23bn (£2.8bn) dividend this year from the world’s biggest fashion retailer.Amancio Ortega, who still controls 59% of Spain’s Inditex and whose daughter Marta Ortega Pérez is now chair, will receive half his dividend in May and half in November – as will other shareholders.Inditex, which owns a raft of high street chains including Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius and Oysho, said on Wednesday it would increase its dividend by 4% after a “robust operating performance” in 2025
Sir Ronnie Hampel obituary
Ronnie Hampel was a businessman’s businessman, a major force in the reshaping of ICI, Britain’s largest manufacturing company, in the 1990s and in the birth of the pharmaceutical company Zeneca (now part of AstraZeneca), as well as a powerful influence on other company boards.He was exceptionally well-connected. His place at the heart of the UK business establishment as chairman of ICI – from 1995 to 1999 – was highlighted by his regular golfing four which included the then cabinet secretary, the chairman of BP and the permanent secretary of the Treasury.Hampel, who has died aged 93, joined ICI in 1955 – in those days the company was known as “the bellwether of British industry”. He learned fast in a range of posts in its sprawling divisions
Atlassian lays off 1,600 workers ahead of AI push
Software giant Atlassian has announced it is laying off about 10% of its workforce, or roughly 1,600 positions, and replacing its chief technology officer as it restructures to invest further in artificial intelligence.Shares of the company rose more than 4% in extended trading on the Nasdaq.The company’s co-founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes, told employees the move was “the right decision for Atlassian” in a note circulated late Wednesday, US time.“But that doesn’t mean it’s easy,” he said. “Far from it
Binance sues Wall Street Journal over reporting on Iranian sanctions
The US government is investigating Binance over allegations that Iran used the crypto exchange to evade sanctions and illegally move funds, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Wednesday.Binance has denied these claims and even sued the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday for defamation.The Journal reported in late February that Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, shut down an internal investigation into more than $1bn in transactions with a network funding Iran-backed terror groups; Binance fired employees for looking into the matter and allowed the network to remain active, according to both the Journal and the New York Times.A Binance spokesperson said in an emailed statement: “Binance categorically did not dismantle any compliance investigation. The WSJ continues to report the same falsities
Rory McIlroy hopes to defend Players Championship despite back injury
Rory McIlroy will make a last‑minute call on Thursday over whether to defend his Players Championship title, with the Northern Irishman still feeling the effects of a weekend back injury. McIlroy will wait until his pre-round range session to determine whether he is fit enough to play.McIlroy arrived here on Wednesday afternoon, having withdrawn shortly before his third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He hit shots for around an hour before walking the back nine with wedge and putter in hand. McIlroy sustained a muscle problem in the gym on Saturday morning, which left him basically inactive for three days
A historic day at Hundred auction but barely any women were there to see it
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