Daimler earnings slip on one-time factors, sales edge higher

FRANKFURT – Daimler AG, maker of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, saw its first-quarter net profit fall 11 per cent from the same quarter a year ago, when the company had one-time gains from the sale of real estate and from financial factors.

The Stuttgart-based automaker said Friday that profits also slipped at its van and bus businesses.

For the group as a whole net profit was 2.35 billion euros ($2.85 billion), down from 2.65 billion euros in the year-ago quarter, when the company’s Mitsubishi Fuso truck business sold real estate worth 267 million euros. It also booked a gain from the revaluation of the company’s stake in Chinese partner BAIC Motor Corporation.

CEO Dieter Zetsch pointed to a 7 per cent increase in vehicle unit sales, to 807,000 vehicles worldwide. “We are sustainably continuing along our profitable growth course and sold more vehicles than ever before in a first quarter,” he said.

Revenue increased 3 per cent to 39.78 billion euros ($48.2 billion) and the Mercedes division’s profit rose 3 per cent. Strong sales of the flagship S-Class luxury sedan and sport-utility vehicles boosted earnings at the division. The division’s return on sales — a key measure of profitability — increased to 9.0 per cent from 8.9 per cent in the year-earlier quarter.