German luxury car- and truck-maker Daimler posted a stiff first-quarter loss on Tuesday and warned sales would ”decrease significantly” this year.
Daimler said it had suffered a net loss of €1,28-billion, against a profit of €1,3-billion in the same period a year earlier.
Sales fell 25% in the first three months of 2009 to €18,7-billion, while the group’s operations showed a loss of €1,42-billion, a statement said.
”The Daimler Group’s total revenue is likely to decrease significantly in the full-year 2009” from the previous year’s level of €95,9-billion, it added.
And ”earnings in the second quarter are expected to be significantly negative once again,” Daimler said.
Shares in the carmaker group plunged by 5,4% to €25,90 in midday trades on the Frankfurt stock exchange, while the Dax index of German blue-chips was off by 2,57% overall.
Like other carmaker groups, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks has been slammed by the global collapse of car markets.
In Japan, Honda Motor Company said on Tuesday it fell into a ¥186,1-billion loss in the fiscal fourth quarter due to weak sales and a stronger yen.
Mitsubishi reported on Monday a loss of ¥54,9-billion for the year to March, and said the market remained tough but that it was starting to see some signs of an improvement.
In Sweden, truck-maker Scania posted Monday a 93% drop in first-quarter profit to €16,6-million as orders for its vehicles hit a wall.
Daimler said it had ”initiated measures designed to adjust costs and avoid expenditure across all divisions”, and at its headquarters in Stuttgart, southern Germany.
The plan should provide cost savings of €4-billion a year, said Daimler, which employed 263 819 people at the end of March.
Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche recently refused to rule out job cuts at the company, which suffered from ”sharp drops in unit sales at Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks and Mercedes-Benz Vans in the first quarter of 2009.”
The carmaker division nonetheless expected to post positive earnings in the second half of the year, the statement said.
Daimler said it had earned €449-million from the sale of property at Berlin’s Postdamer Platz, and €102-million from the transfer of shares in the European aeronautic group EADS.
But the group also booked charges of €491-million in connection with its holding in the distressed US carmaker Chrysler, a former Daimler division.
On Monday, Daimler said it would give up its 19,9% stake in Chrysler and forgive outstanding loans from the struggling firm, which must draw up a viable plan this week to continue receiving US government support.
Looking ahead, Daimler said it would launch its ”smart” city car in China and Brazil this year, but that in general, ”lower volumes are anticipated above all in the markets of the United States, Western Europe and Japan”. — Sapa-AFP