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- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
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- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
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- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
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- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
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- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
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- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
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- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
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- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
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- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
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- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
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- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
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- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
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- Floods threaten Niger's historic 'gateway to the desert'
Volkswagen profits surge despite selling fewer cars
Volkswagen said Friday its net profits jumped last year despite selling fewer cars due to the semiconductor shortage as buyers forked out for better-equipped cars.
The German automaker's net profit rose 75 percent to 15.4 billion euros ($16.8 billion) in 2021.
The 12-brand group sold 8.6 million cars last year, 600,000 fewer than in 2020 and 2.4 million below 2019 levels.
However, sales revenue rose 12 percent in part due to "favourable pricing" and reduced costs.
The world's second-largest automotive group expects sales volumes to rise by 5 to 10 percent in 2022 despite the continuing impact of chip shortages, it said.
This prediction "is subject to the further development of the war in Ukraine and in particular the impact on the group's supply chains and the global economy as a whole," VW said in a statement.
Revenues are expected to rise between 8 and 13 percent in 2022, with operating return on sales to reach between 7 and 8.5 percent -- compared with 7.7 percent in 2021 and 4.3 percent in 2020.
In 2021, "customers were prepared to buy better-equipped cars" and "premium brands fared slightly better" than less expensive "volume" brands, VW's financial director Arno Antlitz told an online conference.
In addition, Volkswagen was able to give fewer discounts and concentrate its semiconductor sourcing on Europe at the expense of other less profitable regions, Antlitz said.
M.P.Jacobs--CPN