Škoda Auto sees profits fall by two-thirds in year ending September

The Czech Republic’s biggest exporter, car producer Škoda Auto, announced a 67.5 percent drop in net profit during the first three quarters of the year compared with the same period in 2008. Net profit totalled 2.8 billion crowns for the nine months ending September against 5.8 billion in 2008. Sales of cars have fallen 5.0 percent year-on-year with total turnover down 13.0 percent at 137.6 billion crowns. There was however some encouragement from the third quarter. Car sales totalled 174,984, a 6.4 percent jump on 2008.