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A Mercedes star is being assembled at the Daimler plant in Sindelfingen: earnings of 4.3 billion euros expected
Photo:
Matthias Schrader / AP
You will look in vain for a V in the Daimler logo, but perhaps the car company should think about such an addition.
Because just as quickly as business collapsed in the spring, the Stuttgart carmaker is recovering.
The Stuttgart-based group announced that it will no longer be possible to make up for the sales losses as a result of the corona pandemic - and sales will therefore also lag well behind 2019.
However, the operating result is expected to reach the previous year's level of 4.3 billion euros over the year.
So far, Daimler had assumed that it would remain below the 2019 values everywhere due to the massive consequences of the corona crisis.
After the crisis had plunged Daimler deeply into the red in the second quarter, the company claimed to have benefited from an unexpectedly rapid market recovery in the third quarter and also from its measures to improve efficiency and cost discipline.
In particular, the Chinese business, which has since picked up strongly again, has caught up with the business of many German car manufacturers this year.
At the same time, however, the ongoing structural change, such as the switch to e-mobility, is putting a strain on Daimler.
CFO Wilhelm: "We keep the pace high"
"With this momentum, we are on the right track to make our business more weatherproof," said CFO Harald Wilhelm.
"The transformation of Daimler is, however, a long-distance race. We are keeping the pace high - focused and with a high level of discipline."
The group is assuming that the economic framework conditions in the most important markets will continue to normalize and, above all, that there will be no further setbacks as a result of the pandemic, it said.
Daimler was able to sell almost 773,000 cars, trucks and buses in the third quarter, eight percent fewer than in the same period last year.
At 40.3 billion euros, sales were seven percent below the prior-year quarter.
The bottom line was that the shareholders made a profit of 2.05 billion euros - that is even 19 percent more than in the same period last year.
Without the so-called deduction of minorities, the group result was 2.16 billion euros.
Daimler announced earnings before interest and taxes of just under 3.1 billion euros a week ago.
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apr / dpa
