Audi 2012 Annual Report Download - page 145

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Strategic target
The Audi Group pursues the key strategic goal of consistently increasing the value of the Company.
In this connection it uses return on investment (RoI) as an instrument of internal steering for
evaluating various investment projects in terms of their return on the capital employed, depending
on their nature and scale. This return on investment reflects the development in a company’s
profitability and is calculated using the following formula:
EUR million 2012 2011
Operating profit after tax 3,766 3,744
Average operating assets 17,459 15,177
– Average non-interest-bearing liabilities 5,282 4,607
= Average invested assets 12,176 10,571
Return on investment (in %) 30.9 35.4
In the past fiscal year the Audi Group achieved a return on investment of 30.9 (35.4) percent,
making it yet again one of the most profitable companies in the automotive industry worldwide.
SHARES
Stock market developments
Last year the development on financial and capital markets worldwide exhibited high volatility
prompted by the sovereign debt crises in Europe. At the start of the year Germany’s lead index
DAX still very much reflected the positive impact of the more far-reaching euro stabilization
measures. Meanwhile the healthy business situation of many companies in the first quarter,
coupled with robust economic data in some cases, fueled hopes that the economy would suffer
less from the European sovereign debt crisis than was originally feared. Having started the year
on 5,900 points, the DAX gained more than 20 percent by mid-March 2012 to reach a level of
around 7,100 points.
Above all in the wake of growing doubts about Greece’s ability to remain in the eurozone and
following the deterioration in the Spanish and Italian economies, from May onwards there were
in some cases significant corrections on stock markets worldwide. The start of June 2012 saw
the German benchmark index dip below 6,000 points for the first time since the start of the
year. Nevertheless, steady business figures gave the German stock market renewed buoyancy
from summer 2012 on. The extensive monetary measures taken by the European Central Bank
also provided major impetus.
The DAX reached its year-high of 7,672 points in December 2012.
The DAX closed the year on 7,612 points, well up on the position at the start of 2012.
Audi trading price trend
Audi shares started 2012 trading at EUR 549 and benefited above all from a positive stock market
environment at the start of the year. That mood helped the shares to reach a year-high of EUR 612
on February 9, 2012. As the year progressed, however, the shares were unable to escape the
market’s general volatility and closed on EUR 525 on the last day of trading in 2012.
Operating profit after tax
Average invested assets
Return on investment (RoI) = x 100