Notes

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37 Capital management

The Group’s capital management ensures that its goals and strategies can be achieved in the interests of shareholders, employees and other stakeholders. In particular, management focuses on generating the minimum return on invested assets in the Automotive Division that is required by the capital markets, and on increasing the return on equity in the Financial Services Division. In the process, it aims overall to achieve the highest possible growth in the value of the Group and its divisions for the benefit of all the Company’s stakeholder groups.

In order to ensure that resources are used as efficiently as possible in the Automotive Division and to measure the success of this, we have for a number of years been using a value-based management system, with value contribution as an absolute performance measure and return on investment (ROI) as a relative indicator.

Value contribution is defined as the difference between operating profit after tax and the opportunity cost of invested capital. The opportunity cost of capital is calculated by multiplying the market cost of capital by average invested capital. Invested capital is calculated by taking the operating assets reported in the balance sheet (property, plant and equipment, intangible assets, lease assets, inventories and receivables) and deducting non-interest-bearing liabilities (trade payables and payments on account received). Average invested capital is derived from the balance at the beginning and the end of the reporting period.

The return on investment is defined as the return on invested capital for a particular period based on the operating result after tax. If the return on investment exceeds the market cost of capital, there is an increase in the value of the invested capital and a positive value contribution. In the Group, a minimum required rate of return on invested capital of 9.0% is defined, which applies to both the business units and the individual products and product lines. The goal of generating a sustained return on investment of over 15.0% is anchored in Strategy 2025. The return on investment therefore serves as a consistent target in operational and strategic management and is used to measure target attainment for the Automotive Division, the individual business units, and projects and products. The return on investment achieved for the Automotive Division was 10.4% in the reporting period, which is above the minimum rate of return on invested capital of 9.0%. Given the current cost of capital of 6.2%, this results in a positive value contribution of €4,756 million.

Due to the specific features of the Financial Services Division, its management focuses on return on equity, a special target linked to invested capital. This measure is calculated as the ratio of earnings before tax to average equity. Average equity is calculated from the balance at the beginning and the end of the reporting period. In addition, the goals of the Financial Services Division are to meet the banking supervisory authorities’ regulatory capital requirements, to procure equity for the growth planned in the coming fiscal years and to support its external rating by ensuring capital adequacy. To ensure compliance with prudential requirements at all times, a planning procedure integrated into internal reporting has been put in place at the Volkswagen Bank, allowing the required equity to be continuously determined on the basis of actual and expected business performance. In the reporting period, this again ensured that regulatory minimum capital requirements were always met both at Group level and at the level of subordinate companies’ individual, specific capital requirements.

The return on investment and value contribution in the Automotive Division as well as the return on equity and the equity ratio in the Financial Services Division are shown in the following table:

€ million

 

2021

 

2020

 

 

 

 

 

Automotive Division1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating result after tax

 

11,740

 

7,450

Invested capital (average)

 

113,386

 

114,907

Return on investment (ROI) in %

 

10.4

 

6.5

Cost of capital in %

 

6.2

 

6.5

Opportunity cost of invested capital

 

6,984

 

7,504

Value contribution2

 

4,756

 

–54

 

 

 

 

 

Financial Services Division

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings before tax

 

5,981

 

2,776

Average equity

 

34,591

 

31,463

Return on equity before tax in %

 

17.3

 

8.8

Equity ratio in %

 

14.5

 

13.2

1

Including proportionate inclusion of the Chinese joint ventures and allocation of consolidation adjustments between the Automotive and Financial Services Divisions; excluding effects on earnings and assets from purchase price allocation.

2

The value contribution corresponds to the Economic Value Added (EVA®). EVA® is a registered trademark of Stern Stewart & Co

Equity ratio
The equity ratio measures the percentage of total assets attributable to shareholders’ equity as of a reporting date. This ratio indicates the stability and financial strength of the company and shows the degree of financial independence.
Rating
Systematic assessment of companies in terms of their credit quality. Ratings are expressed by means of rating classes, which are defined differently by the individual rating agencies.