* Porsche SE fiscal 2009/10 net loss 454 million eur
* Sports car business FY op profit 1.185 bln eur
* To propose token dividend of 0.10 eur per pref share
* Porsche foresees profit at group level in 2011
(Recasts, adds analyst, details)
By Christiaan Hetzner
FRANKFURT, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Porsche SE's sports car business earned nearly as much in the fourth quarter alone as it did in the previous nine months, returning profitability to the record levels of recent years.
Operating profit at the unit surged to 585 million euros ($816 million) in the three months through July on revenue of 2.57 billion, it said on Wednesday, attributing the result to record retail volumes and a sales mix tilted to higher-end models like the 911 Turbo S.
Based on Reuters calculations, this suggests a return of 23 percent -- a level achieved by Porsche in its best years but otherwise virtually unheard of even among luxury carmakers like Mercedes and BMW.
However listed parent Porsche SE drove headlong into its second straight annual loss, due to heavy markdowns on the value of its Volkswagen stake, and forecast it might take until 2011 before it returns to profitability.
The parent's annual net loss of 454 million was only half of what was last forecast in mid-June.
Analysts advised investors to focus on the performance at the sports car business, rather than on the holding group's results that are heavily influenced by balance sheet acrobatics.
"No one really cares about all the accounting effects on profit and loss. It's just the cash that matters," said one London-based analyst, who was not authorised to speak to the press.
He expects to learn more about the group's progress in reducing net debt when it publishes full accounts on Oct. 19.
Shares in Porsche SE closed 5 percent higher at 39 euros.
Now purely a holding company with no operating business to speak of, exchange-listed vehicle Porsche SE derives its income solely from earnings attributable to its 51 percent stake in sports car maker Porsche and 32 percent stake in Volkswagen.
SWALLOWED UP
Months before a looming rights issue, the heavily indebted company proposed doubling its dividend to 0.10 euros for each listed non-voting share, a symbolic amount to appease shareholders whom Porsche SE plans to hit up for cash next year.
Porsche SE will tap its preferred stockholders for 2.5 billion euros in a capital increase during the first half of 2011 and plans to use the funds in full to pay back the first tranche of a bank loan maturing at the end of June.
Famous for its sleek sports cars like the 911 Turbo, Porsche came to be known in financial markets half-jokingly as a hedge fund with a captive auto business after the bulk of its earnings in recent years came from speculating on Volkswagen shares and foreign exchange movements.
Billions of euros in profits -- largely existing on paper -- emboldened management to launch a risky takeover of Volkswagen, which nearly bankrupted Porsche last year after it could no longer afford to prop up the elaborate structure of VW derivative positions used to build its stake.
Porsche SE was forced to sell its sports car business to VW in stages and it offloaded its cash-settled call options on VW stock to the Gulf state of Qatar for a heavy loss in July 2009.
Once it wipes the better part of its remaining debt off its balance sheet with the help of next year's capital increase, Porsche SE will then be gobbled up by Volkswagen when investors swap their shares for stock in Europe's largest carmaker. (Editing by David Holmes) ($1=.7173 Euro)