BMW's 2009 Profit Slides 36% - WSJ.com

FRANKFURT—BMW AG reported a 36% slump in 2009 net profit in a year that saw a steep downturn for luxury car makers, but said Thursday it is cautiously optimistic for 2010.
The Munich-based auto maker said net profit in 2009 fell to €210 million from €330 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 4.7% to €50.68 billion, but the company reached its target of posting a full-year pretax profit at a time when many auto makers ...

--

Sorry guys i cant copy the entire article, since the rest is under subscription i'm sure its illegal to paste it to a public forum.

I was a little confused, they had a much higher pretax income in 2009 versus 2008 (€413 million from €351 million), yet their net profits slid 36%, Could the taxes really have brought them down THAT much?

Am i missing something?

__________________
BMWCCA