Volkswagen earnings q1 2019

Volkswagen reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday, as the automaker attempts to increase the pace of its transformation.

The German firm posted operating profit of 3.9 billion euros ($ 4.4 billion) for the first three months of the year. That compared with operating profit of 4.2 billion euros a year earlier. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected first-quarter operating profit to come in at 3.9 billion euros.

Volkswagen, which is still battling to recover from a 2015 scandal over emissions test cheating, also said it was decided to take a 1 billion euro charge in the first quarter, as a result of legal risks.

"It is certainly very important that we have had a better perspective on the subject," Frank Witter, chief financial officer of Volkswagen, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe "on Thursday.

The company confirmed its full-year guidance and expected it to increase as much as 5%. It is projected to operate between 6.5% and 7%.

Revenue advanced 3.1% to 60 billion euros for the first three months of 2019, despite a drop in deliveries.

The company did not provide a net profit figure.

Earlier this year, CEO Volkswagen Herbet Diess said the carmaker would redouble its efforts in 2019 in order to meet its ambitious annual targets.

Diess told the Financial Times in February that the biggest risk to Volkswagen's 2019 profit would be potential tariffs from President Donald Trump's administration.

At the time, he estimated the worst-case scenario regarding potential U.S. tariffs could cost around 2.5 billion euros a year – roughly 13% of expected earnings.

"We certainly hope that the trade disputes will be resolved that 100% of the Porsche cars are being exported from Europe to the United States," Witter said.

He explained that approximately 70% of all Audi products were sold in the United States, while for Volkswagen passenger cars it was a very small percentage being exported from Europe to the United States since most of their vehicles were built in North America.

"So, we still hope for the best, we do not know what we want to do." We continue to be optimistic but also realistic, "Witter said.

In February, Trump said he would impose tariffs on cars imported from the European Union if U.S. talks with the block can not produce a new deal. The EU has since threatened to tax 20 billion euros ($ 22 billion) worth of U.S. goods.

Both sides have cautiously hung up on existing agreements.