Porsche, the sports-car maker merging with Volkswagen, said first-half operating profit surged 59 per cent on increased demand for the Cayenne sport-utility vehicle. Earnings before interest and taxes advanced to €1.07 billion (Dh5.65 billion) from €675 million a year earlier, the Stuttgart, Germany-based company said in a statement. Six-month revenue rose 19 per cent to €5.22 billion. Backed by VW, Porsche aims to double sales to at least 200,000 cars and SUVs by 2018 by introducing new models and expanding in emerging markets. The maker of the 911 sports car expects to boost deliveries to more than 100,000 this year from 97,000 in 2010, the carmaker reiterated yesterday. Cayenne first-half sales more than doubled to 28,405 vehicles. \"These are excellent results, profit and margin are both above expectations,\" said Juergen Pieper, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Bankhaus Metzler who recommends buying the stock. \"Porsche has excellent products with the Cayenne and Panamera and the overall environment for premium cars is very solid.\" Article continues below Porsche rose as much as €1.98, or 3.7 per cent, to €55.66 and was up 1.6 per cent to €54.56 as of 10:17am in Frankfurt trading. The shares have gained 7 per cent this year, valuing the carmaker at €16.7 billion. To sustain growth, Porsche aims to adjust rollouts to have at least one new product each year, sales chief Bernhard Maier said. The key model in 2011 will be the seventh generation of the 911, which debuts at the Frankfurt motor show next month. The revamped car will be more agile than the current version while selling for about the same €86,000 for the basic model.