The commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler trucks represents after a depreciation in China its forecast for the full year is being put to the test. The outlook for the full year is currently being reviewed, the DAX group announced on Tuesday evening. The truck manufacturer earned less than expected in the second quarter, mainly due to a one-time effect in China. According to preliminary figures, the adjusted operating result (EBIT) amounted to 1.168 billion euros – a decrease of 18 percent compared to the same period last year. Analysts on average had expected 1.259 billion euros.
Due to the continued weak market development in China, Daimler Truck has fully written off the book value of the Chinese joint venture BFDA, the truck manufacturer also announced. This resulted in a non-cash impact on earnings of 120 million euros. This affected the adjusted EBIT of the Trucks Asia segment and the industrial business. Without this one-off effect, the adjusted return on sales for the industrial business would be 10.2 instead of 9.3 percent.
Strong results in the Trucks North America and Daimler Buses segments exceeded market expectations, while the European business under the Mercedes-Benz brand and Financial Services ended the quarter weaker than expected. The full quarterly figures and the interim report are scheduled to be published on August 1st.
Daimler Truck recently had to struggle with weak demand in Europe and Asia. The European brand Mercedes-Benz got the reluctance of customers Germany to feel.
at the beginning of March the world market leader for heavy trucks had announced, to keep sales and EBIT stable for the year as a whole and to generate a margin of 9.0 to 10.5 percent.
The overall package of news was not well received by investors. In an initial reaction, the Daimler Truck share lost 3.6 percent in after-hours trading on the Tradegate trading platform compared to the closing price in the main Xetra business.