Daimler rises after Q2 results beat forecasts

Daimler shares rose after the German carmaker said its second-quarter loss would be lower than expectations.

The owner of Mercedes-Benz said it would post a loss before interest and tax (Ebit) of €1.68bn (£1.5bn) for the three months to the end of June, well below the consensus forecast for a €2.07bn loss. Adjusted Ebit also beat forecasts with a €708m loss - less than half the €1.7bn predicted

In an unscheduled update on Thursday evening Daimler said the market recovered more strongly than expected from the Covid-19 lockdown. Full quarterly results will be published on 23 July.

Daimler shares rose 4% to €39.15 at 08:57 BST.

Mercedes-Benz cars and vans suffered a €1.13bn loss compared with the consensus forecast for a €1.4bn loss. The adjusted loss was €284m, well below the consensus of €1.1bn.

Daimler trucks and buses posted a €756m loss but that was better than the €823m loss expected. The group posted positive cash flow of €685m, beating expectations for an outflow of €2.1bn.

"Following a better than expected market recovery and a strong June performance, Daimler Group adjusted Ebit, Mercedes-Benz cars and vans adjusted Ebit and Daimler's industrial free cash flow for the second quarter of 2020 are all above market expectations," the company said.

Daimler said it spent €687m to restructure its global network of factories producing Mercedes-Benz cars and vans and €129m for efficiency programmes across the group. The company also took a €105m charge on the value of its YOUR NOW carshare joint venture.