Daimler said it booked strong growth in earnings and record unit sales and revenue in the third quarter of 2014. The group boosted Q3 unit sales 7% year on year to 637,400 cars and commercial vehicles worldwide as Mercedes-Benz Cars set a quarterly record.
Third-quarter revenue was up 10% to EUR33.1bn and operating EBIT improved to EUR2,787m from EUR2,300m in Q3 2013. Net profit increased to EUR2,821m from EUR1,897m.
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“Our strategy is paying off. We are growing profitably and look to the future with optimism also beyond the full year,” said Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche.
“In all our divisions, both the product offensives and the efficiency programmes are taking effect. We are confident that we will achieve the targets we have set on a sustained basis.”
Including special items, Q3 EBIT rose to EUR3,732m from EUR2,231m a year ago due to a better product mix at Mercedes-Benz Cars and the increasing impact of efficiency measures implemented at all divisions. Foreign exchange rates had a slightly negative impact on earnings, however.
The third quarter was particularly influenced by the sale of the shares in Rolls-Royce Power Systems Holding (RRPSH) which resulted in a gain of EUR1,006m.
Mercedes-Benz Cars sales rose by 9% to 431,000 vehicles in the third quarter of 2014, a record for a quarter. The top market in western Europe was the United Kingdom with an increase of 18%. Sales in the United States, the brand’s biggest market, rose 5% to 84,100. China sales rose 18% to 76,200.
Looking ahead, Daimler said the “world economy continues to develop at significantly below its long-term growth potential. The available leading indicators currently do not suggest that a sustainable improvement can be expected by the end of the year.
“In particular, economic indicators in the European Monetary Union (EMU) point towards a rather difficult fourth quarter. The US economy is one of the most important drivers of global growth. The stabilisation of overall economic growth in China at between 7% and 7.5% is of crucial importance for the world economy. Overall, the world economy should grow in the year 2014 by 2.7% – a similar rate to last year – but when compared with the long-term trend, it would be the third successive year with below-average growth.
“Worldwide demand for cars is likely to expand only moderately this year, with expected growth of around 3%.”
Nonetheless, it expects total unit sales to “increase significantly” and set another record in full year 2014.
