DaimlerChrysler
Thursday, October 26, 2006
DaimlerChrysler Net Falls Less Than Analysts Expected
By Jeremy van Loon
Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's fifth-largest carmaker, said third-quarter profit fell less than analysts estimated as higher earnings at the Mercedes and truck units helped offset a loss at Chrysler. The shares gained the most in 15 months.
Net income fell 37 percent to 541 million euros ($681 million) from 855 million euros a year earlier, the Stuttgart, Germany-based company said today. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected net income of 27 million euros. Revenue declined 7.8 percent to 35.2 billion euros.
Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche slashed 9,300 jobs and introduced new models like the S-Class at Mercedes to reverse a slump in sales last year. The turnaround at the German luxury carmaker contrasts with a $1.5 billion loss at Chrysler, whose future became the focus of DaimlerChrysler's conference call when an executive failed to quell questions about a possible sale.
``The company needs to move quite quickly at Chrysler because the operating losses are quite substantial,'' said Peter Braendle, a fund manager at Swisscanto Asset Management in Zurich, which oversees the equivalent of $51 billion and is ``overweight'' in its holdings of DaimlerChrysler shares. ``Mercedes and the trucks did quite well. That seems always to be the case at Daimler, they fix one unit and immediately there is a problem at another one.''
The shares rose 1.74 euros, or 4.2 percent, to 43.23 euros in Frankfurt. U.S. shares gained $2.35, or 4.5 percent, to $54.68 at 4:17 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
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