BERLIN (Reuters) – Daimler Truck reported on Tuesday an adjusted return of sales of 8.8% in the first quarter of the year, up from 5.9% last year and towards the top end of its annual outlook for 2023, on a rise in revenue of 25%.
The truck and busmaker confirmed preliminary results released late April of a 78% jump in operating profit to 1.162 billion euros ($1.28 billion).
Its Asia business, which struggled in 2022, yielding just a 2.6% margin, saw some improvement in the first quarter, reaching a margin of 4.6%.
Its North America and Europe divisions saw returns of 11.6% and 8.8% respectively, in line with long-term targets.
Broadly, global supply chains were stabilising and demand was up compared to this time last year, the statement said, as illustrated by the 15% jump in unit sales to just over 125,000 units.
The company kept its outlook from earlier this year unchanged, forecasting 55-57 billion euros in revenue for the year and 7.5-9% adjusted returns.
($1 = 0.9084 euros)
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Editing by Rachel More)
