TLTP
\nBERLIN
\nGerman carmaker Daimler posted a net loss of 1.9 billion euros (USD2.2 billion) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, and said that the overall result was \u201cstrongly influenced by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting decline in demand.\u201d
\n\u201cDue to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, we had to endure a challenging quarter,\u201d explained Ola Kaellenius, chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler on Thursday, adding that the company was \u201cfirmly determined\u201d to continue its cost-cutting drive.
\nWhile revenues fell by 12.5 billion euros year-on-year to 30.2 billion euros in Q2, industrial net liquidity increased slightly to 9.5 billion euros. According to Kaellenius, Daimler\u2019s industrial net liquidity was a \u201ctestament to effective cost control and cash management,\u201d which the carmaker would need to \u201ccontinue to enforce.\u201d
\nIn Q2, sales of Daimler\u2019s core brand Mercedes-Benz decreased by 30 percent to 480,800 vehicles. While a \u201cfavorable model mix,\u201d driven particularly by the success of the newest products, had contributed positively to profitability, restructuring expenses for capacity adjustments in the global production network and the initiated personnel cost reduction program had a negative impact.
\nSales of Daimler Trucks & Buses decreased by 55 percent year-on-year to just 61,000 vehicles in Q2. According to Daimler, the drop was due to declining volumes, while restructuring measures, which would improve long-term competitiveness, still helped reduce fixed costs \u201csignificantly.\u201d
\nThe German carmaker projected that the coronavirus pandemic would \u201ccontinue to have a strong impact on developments during the rest of the year,\u201d and that a \u201cconsiderable decline in global economic output\u201d would have to be expected at least until the end of 2020.
\nHowever, Kaellenius stressed that Daimler was now seeing \u201cfirst signs of a sales recovery, especially at Mercedes-Benz passenger cars,\u201d where the company was experiencing strong demand for its top-end models and electrified vehicles.
\nRecently, Daimler has announced that Mercedes-Benz achieved its \u201cbest second quarter ever in terms of unit sales\u201d in China, where car sales increased by 21.6 percent year-on-year. In contrast to other markets where sales declined strongly due to the impact of COVID-19, sales in China grew by 35 percent for commercial vans during the period, according to Daimler.
\nAssuming that economic recovery continues in the second half of the year and that there would be no new major wave of COVID-19 infections in its key sales markets, Daimler expects both its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and the free cash flow of its industrial business to be positive in 2020, albeit lower than in the previous year.
\nFollowing the announcement, Daimler was among the biggest winners of the DAX, the index of Germany\u2019s top 30 listed companies, with its shares increasing by more than five percent at the start of trading on Thursday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP BERLIN German carmaker Daimler posted a net loss of 1.9 billion euros (USD2.2 billion) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, and said that the overall result was \u201cstrongly influenced by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting decline in demand.\u201d \u201cDue to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, we had to endure a challenging quarter,\u201d explained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-134628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n