Daimler posts growth in unit sales and revenue in first quarter of 2018

Daimler AG (ticker symbol DAI) made a good start to the year 2018 and again increased sales and revenue. Daimler has sold 806,900 cars and commercial vehicles worldwide in the first three months of 2018, surpassing the number sold in the prior-year period by 7%. All of the automotive divisions contributed to the best-ever unit sales in a first quarter, especially Mercedes-Benz Cars with its most successful first quarter of all time (594,300 units; +5%) and Daimler Trucks with a significant sales increase of 21% to113,800 units. The Group’s first-quarter revenue amounted to €39.8 billion, which is 3% above the prior-year level. Adjusted for exchange-rate effects, revenue grew by 8%.

The Daimler Group achieved first-quarter EBIT of €3,335 million in 2018, which is significantly below its prior-year earnings of €3,771 million. Net profit for the first quarter of 2018 of €2,354 million was significantly below the prior-year figure of €2,652 million. Net profit attributable to the shareholders of Daimler AG amounts to €2,273 million (Q1 2017: €2,557 million), representing a decrease in earnings per share to €2.12 (Q1 2017: €2.39).

The Mercedes-Benz Cars division slightly improved upon its prior-year earnings, mainly due to the very positive development of unit sales of the S-Class and SUV models. Daimler Trucks’ earnings were at the prior-year level. In the first quarter of the previous year, the gain of€267 million on the sale of real estate by Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation in Japan had a positive effect on earnings. Mercedes-Benz Vans and Daimler Buses each posted an EBIT significantly lower than in the first quarter of last year. At Daimler Financial Services, growth in contract volume led to a slight increase in earnings. Exchange-rate effects had an overall slightly negative impact on operating profit. The reconciliation of segment earnings to Group EBIT also had a negative impact on earnings in the first quarter of 2018. The positive effect in the prior-year quarter was primarily due to the reversal of an impairment of Daimler’s equity investment in BAIC Motor Corporation Ltd. (BAIC Motor).

“We are sustainably continuing along our profitable growth course and sold more vehicles in a first quarter than ever before. We aim to continue building on this and to further consolidate our leading position in the premium segment, because we have big plans for the future,” stated Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. “With the five pillars of our strategy – CORE, CASE, CULTURE, COMPANY and CUSTOMER – we are ideally prepared for the transformation of the industry and of our company.” The five strategic areas comprise the expansion of the core business, pushing forward with the CASE topics, further developing the corporate culture, optimizing the company’s structure, and above all, focusing on the customers.