Underlying the good times for premium brands, Daimler's Supervisory Board chairman has hailed last year as the company's most successful year ever.
"2015 was the most successful year in the history of Daimler AG," said Dr. Manfred Bischoff, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, welcoming 6,000 visitors to the company's Annual Shareholders' Meeting in Berlin. "This success is no accident: It is based on the long-term planning and strategic decisions of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board in the past years," added Bischoff. "Also for the year 2016 the company has ambitious targets and will invest all its energy to maintain at the top position in the premium car segment and to anchor past year's success on a sustainable basis."
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Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Daimler CEO stressed measures to update the company. "We have updated large parts of our company in recent years," he said. "The core business has been strengthened by new products and a new design language. The basis for global growth has been further expanded, for example through the flexible and efficient production network around the globe and by the realignment of the sales organisation. In addition, Daimler's claim to leadership in the field of technology has been underscored by its progress especially with autonomous driving. Furthermore, Daimler is utilizing digitization in the industry as an opportunity, for example to establish new business models. These are the four pillars of the Daimler's strategy, now and in the future. They are the basis of the success we enjoy today – and pave the way for the course we have set for the future. They offer us a lot of great opportunities," he said.
Daimler achieved new records in 2015 for unit sales, revenue and earnings. With a total workforce of 284,015 employees (2014: 279,972), the group sold more than 2.9 million vehicles worldwide (2014: 2.5 million), posted revenue of €149.5 billion (2014: €129.9 billion) and achieved EBIT of €13.2 billion (2014: €10.8 billion). EBIT from the ongoing business increased by 36% to €13.8 billion (2014: €10.1 billion), and net profit amounted to €8.9 billion (2014: €7.3 billion).
As a result of the strong earnings and the successful course of business in the year 2015, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board have proposed to the Annual Shareholders' Meeting the distribution of the highest dividend so far in the history of Daimler AG of €3.25 per share (prior year: €2.45). The total dividend payout amounts to €3,477 million (prior year: €2,621 million) and is the highest dividend paid by a DAX30 company so far in 2016. The dividend payout ratio is 40.2% of the net profit attributable to the Daimler shareholders (prior year: 37.6%).
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