FRANKFURT, July 25 (Reuters) - Europe's biggest carmaker, Volkswagen AG , said on Friday its core profits had fallen by more than a half in the second quarter, as a strong euro, new product costs and slumping demand took their toll.
The company said it expected operating profit in the full year to be significantly below last year's 4.76 billion euros, hit by restructuring measures in Brazil.
VW said its operating profit fell to 616 million euros ($708 million) in the three months to the end of June from 1.4 billion a year ago, while pre-tax profit fell 46 percent to 679 million.
The average of forecasts from 25 analysts surveyed by Reuters put VW's operating profit in the second quarter at 730 million euros, while pre-tax profit was seen at around 640 million.