FRANKFURT — Daimler AG said Tuesday it swung to a second-quarter net profit and lifted its target for full-year earnings before interest and tax, fueled by a speedy recovery in the luxury-car market, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The car and truck maker posted a net profit of €1.25 billion ($1.62 billion) compared with a year-earlier net loss of $1.02 billion, driven by soaring car sales at Mercedes-Benz as well as recovering truck markets. Revenue jumped 28% to €25.11 billion from €19.61 billion.

Daimler said it is now targeting full-year earnings before interest and taxes, or Ebit, of €6 billion compared with a previous target of more than €4 billion.

"We have a very dynamic development of unit sales and revenue in all divisions," Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said in a statement, adding that the company expects "significant revenue growth" for the full year.

Daimler expects its core Mercedes-Benz division to account for €4 billion in Ebit in 2010 and the truck division for around €1 billion.

The Stuttgart-based company previously had expected Ebit at the Mercedes-Benz Cars unit to come in at the upper end of a €2.5 billion to €3 billion range.

Daimler is the world's largest truck maker by sales and the world's second-best-selling luxury car maker behind BMW AG. It was hard hit by last year's slump in demand for premium cars and trucks, but staged a powerful earnings recovery in recent months and is moving closer to its profitability target at Mercedes-Benz Cars.

According to previous statements, the unit is expected to achieve a return on sales of 10 percent in the second half of 2012 and maintain this level in 2013.

About the author
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

Administrator

Staff writers for Agent Entrepreneur are professional journalists. Industry-specific information is reviewed by topic experts to ensure accuracy.

View Bio
0 Comments