Daimler’s AG Quarterly Earnings up 20pct

Daimler AG (DAI), the maker of Mercedes Benz premium vehicles on Friday said that its net profit rose 20 percent to EUR 1.42 billion ($1.88 billion) in the first quarter as the company delivered a record number of luxury cars.

“We have started the year with a strong first quarter. Despite higher investment in future growth and a challenging market environment, we succeeded in surpassing the very good prior-year results in terms of unit sales, revenue, EBIT and net profit,” stated Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

Both the sales and net profit figures beat the average analyst estimate compiled by FactSet, which foresaw profit of €1.22 billion.

Daimler reiterated it expects full-year revenue to improve compared to 2011, fueled by higher vehicle sales. Full-year Ebit is anticipated to come in on last year’s level as costs for broadening its product line-up and expanding production capacity will weigh on earnings this year.

In addition, earnings were helped by a stronger performance from the company’s financial services division and from accounting for its share in aerospace firm EADS.