DPA
“We can not and will not be satisfied with this”: Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche
It’s his last year’s record as a Daimler boss, and that’s not good. Dieter Zetsche has to announce a significant drop in profits with stagnant sales for 2018. The outlook is not optimistic: The significantly lower return on the passenger car business will only increase slightly in the current year. “We can not and will not be satisfied with that,” says Zetsche.
The car and truck builder Daimler Show stock market chart has cut off its dividend following a slump in profits last year. The shareholders will receive for the past year with 3.25 euros per paper 40 cents less payout than last year, said the Dax Group on Wednesday.
With US-China tariff crackdown on profits, including diesel recalls, the previously used R134a refrigerant, and the introduction of WLTP’s new exhaust and consumption standards, shareholders’ net profit was up 29 percent at € 7.25 billion broken into.
Investors were disappointed: The Daimler share Show stock market chart gave in the morning 2.2 percent and was one of the weakest Dax.
Thanks to the truck business, Daimler was able to increase sales by 2 percent to 167.36 billion euros. “For Daimler 2018 was a year with strong headwinds,” said outgoing CEO Dieter Zetsche. At the Annual General Meeting in May, he hands over the leadership to development chief Ola Källenius.
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The much-noticed return on sales in the Mercedes-Benz passenger car segment sank by 1.6 percentage points to 7.8 percent. A lot of dare Daimler here in the current year probably not too: Should the Kennzifffer, which indicates the proportion of operating profit in sales, 2019 but only between 6 and 8 percent. As a rule, the Group is aiming for a value of 8 to 10 percent here. “We can not and will not be satisfied with that,” commented Zetsche. “That’s why we started to develop comprehensive countermeasures.”
Spending and weaker car business: operating profit collapses
Earnings before interest and taxes unexpectedly fell sharply by 22 percent to 11.1 billion euros. The car manufacturer spent in addition to the special costs a lot of money for new models and new technology such as electric drives. In the equally important truck division, however, things were better than in the previous year. In 2019, on the other hand, sales and sales should rise slightly, as should operating profit.
Not only shareholders, but also employees receive less
Daimler wants to pay its employees after the profit slump also significantly less premium. The approximately 130,000 employees of the Group will only receive € 4,965 profit sharing after 5,700 in the previous year, Daimler said.
The basis for determining the premium is a calculation formula that links earnings before interest and taxes and return on sales.
Operational layoffs are excluded for the group at least for the permanent workforce in Germany. The works council had negotiated a new job security until the end of 2029. The Group currently employs nearly 300,000 people worldwide.
with news agencies