BERLIN (Reuters) -Mercedes-Benz on Thursday lifted its outlook for the annual adjusted return on sales of its vans division to 11-13% from 9-11% previously and said it expected to hit the higher end of its 12-14% forecast for returns in the cars division.
Overall global growth was likely to remain subdued, but inflation was gradually declining, energy prices were expected to be less volatile and demand was good in the U.S. and China, the carmaker said.
In Europe, demand was sluggish, it added, with the order book only supporting sales in the coming months.
Mercedes-Benz reported group earnings of 5.5 billion euros ($6.06 billion) and adjusted return on sales for its cars division of 14.8% in the first quarter, above expectations but below last year’s 16.4% margin.
The vans division saw an adjusted returns margin of 15.6%, up from last year’s 12.6%, boosted by improved deliveries and pricing.
Sales were up 3% across the group to nearly 503,000 units, as supply chain bottlenecks eased further.
($1 = 0.9082 euros)
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Editing by Rachel More)
