Daimler Truck has reported that it has overcome many of the supply chain headwinds affecting the automotive market, to increase its sales volume during the second quarter this year.
The German based global commercial vehicle manufacturer posted net profit for the quarter of the equivaoent of $AUD1.3 billion(€954.4 million) , or around $AUD1.63 per share (€1.13), for the three months to the end of June. That compared with $885.2 million, for the same period in 2021.
The company also reported that its total revenue increased 18 per cent to $AUD17.6 billion, up from $10.5 billion in the second quarter last year.
It was the first time Daimler Truck reported as an independent company, having been spun off from Daimler AG earlier this year when it began trading as an independent entity on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Daimler Truck CEO Martin Daum said following the announcement that the environment for commercial vehicle makers remains quite volatile. the various geopolitical developments and other challenging circumstances.
“We are monitoring all of these very closely and as for the war in Ukraine, we have already reported our measures and their impact on our business in our annual results back in March and for now, there’s nothing to add to that,” said Daum.
However Daum and his other key Daimler executives mentioned back in March that operational exposure in Russia and Ukraine for Daimler has been relatively low, with those markets only accounting for about 1 per cent of global sales and as a result the company did not see much of an impact from the war.
Daimler did report that it has donated humanitarian aid and trucks to help people in the Ukraine region.
“Regarding the discussion about potential shortages of natural gas, we expect increasing cost, but no impact on production,” said the Daimler truck boss.
“In important markets like Europe and the U.S., demand remains strong, and our group order backlog remains on a higher level, so today, the limiting factor of our business still is not demand, the limiting factor is supply and our ability to produce and deliver,” Daum added.
The Daimler boss also said that in the second quarter the company could not deliver as many vehicles as it could have without bottlenecks, and noted that its unit sales increased despite the headwinds.
The company also increased net pricing to offset inflationary cost increases, which it said had contributed to its bottom line results.
“Despite these challenges, we made good underlying progress, even without the recorded positive structural items, and I am satisfied with those results as we are exactly on track to achieve our expectations for the full year, with the significant improvement compared to last year. And we are fully in line with our 2022 full-year guidance,” Daum said
Daimler’s report noted that the company had increased its unit sales, revenue and adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, despite ongoing supply chain constraints and headwinds from raw material prices.
It also noted revenue growth was supported by positive sales, improved net pricing and higher contributions from its aftersales business, as well as positive effects from exchange rates.
Daimler noted its sales year-on-year increased four per cent to 120,961 units, up from 116,845 units, and highlighted that the company is continuing to see a strong demand environment, and order backlog remains high as well.
The Daimler Group’s North American oepration reported its revenue increased 26 per cent to $AUD 7.49 billion, up from $AUD 5.49 billion last year, with earnings before interest and taxes increasing 19per cent to $AUD760.68 million from $AUD639.96 million.
The results primarily were due to an increase in unit sales, despite bottlenecks in the supply chains. Its Mexican unit sales increased a massive 59.2 per cent year-on-year, while Canadian sales saw an increase of 22.6 per cent and the U.S. was up 6 per cent.
Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz Truck brand grew revenue 13 per cent, to $AUD7.09 billion from $AUD6.25 billion during the same quarter in 2021.
Mercedes earnings before interest and taxes surged an extraordinary 114 per cent to $AUD734.76 million, up from $AUD330.6 million.
Daimler Trucks’ Asian operations saw revenue grow six per cent during the quarter to $AUD2.25 billion, up from $AUDS2.1 billion last year. Its earnings In Asia before interest and taxes, actually declined 78 per cent from $AUD203.83 million last year to $AUD45.01 million. This was driven by an increase in unit sales in the first six months of 2022 that mainly occurred in overseas markets such as Indonesia.
Revenue in Daimler’s bus operations gained 20per cent to $AUD1.27 billion from $AUD1.05 billion. However bus earnings before interest and taxes dropped by a massive 336 per cent to a loss of $AUD37.89 million, down from a $AUD16.05 billion profit last year.
