Mercedes Benz
The bottom line is that the premium manufacturer from Stuttgart earned 14.8 billion euros.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
The car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz increased its operating profit by 28 percent to 20.5 billion euros last year, thanks to high demand and a continued shortage of supply, more than expected. Sales increased by twelve percent to 150 billion euros, as the company announced on Friday in Stuttgart.
“We have developed Mercedes-Benz into a more profitable company,” said CEO Ola Källenius. The key to this was the focus on the top models and disciplined margin and cost management. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected sales of €147 billion and operating profit of €19.3 billion on average.
The bottom line is that the premium manufacturer from Stuttgart earned 14.8 billion euros, which was 34 percent more than in the previous year. A higher dividend of EUR 5.20 (previous year: EUR 5.00) per share will be proposed to the Annual General Meeting. The shareholders should also benefit from the share buyback announced on Thursday evening with a volume of four billion euros.
From March, the shares should be purchased on the stock exchange over a period of up to two years and then withdrawn. It has been agreed with the two major Chinese shareholders BAIC and Geely that they will each keep their stake in the Dax group below ten percent by selling shares in the program.
In view of the more difficult market environment, Mercedes-Benz expects sales of Mercedes-Benz Cars and Vans and sales at the previous year’s level in the current year, pre-tax profit is expected to fall slightly.More: Mercedes decides to buy back billions of shares