FRANKFURT -- Daimler said it expected the operating profit at Mercedes-Benz to be above the prior-year level, even as the coronavirus pandemic forced the company to abandon its outlook earlier this month.
First-quarter earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were 617 million euros ($669.45 million), down from 2.8 billion euros in the year-earlier period, of which 510 million euros came from the Mercedes-Benz Cars unit.
Daimler expects group revenue and EBIT to be below 2019 levels but given substantial one-off charges in the year-earlier period, Mercedes's EBIT for cars and vans is now seen above prior-year, the company said.
Last week Daimler pre-released preliminary results, showing a plunge of nearly 70 percent in first-quarter operating profit and warned that the cash flow it uses to pay dividends would fall this year.
