Frankfurt Thanks to high prices and higher sales, the car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz earned better than expected on the financial market in the first quarter. According to preliminary figures, the adjusted return on sales in the main business area of passenger cars was 14.8 percent, while analysts were expecting an average of 13.4 percent. As the Dax group explained in a mandatory notification on Thursday evening, the smaller vans division performed even better with a return of 15.6 percent (consensus: 13.1 percent).
Adjusted operating profit in the quarter was 5.5 billion euros, almost four percent more than a year ago. The strong profitability led to liquid funds of 2.2 billion euros in the industrial business – one billion euros more than estimated by the industry experts.
The brand with the star increased sales from January to March by three percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year to around 500,000 cars. The carmaker benefited from high demand for particularly profitable top models such as the Mercedes Maybach and the G-Class.
“The company also delivered solid growth rates in both battery-electric and top-end vehicles in the first quarter,” the automaker said. Van sales soared by 12 percent to almost 99,000 vehicles, a record for a first quarter.
With the strong start to the year, Mercedes’ profit margin is above its own target corridors for the year as a whole: the return for cars in 2023 should be between twelve and 14 percent, and for vans between nine and eleven percent. Full quarterly figures will be released on April 28th.
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