In the second quarter, Daimler Truck Holding AG (Daimler Truck) faced increased headwinds in key regions, mainly in Europe and Asia. With €13.3 billion the Group’s revenue is slightly below the previous year’s second quarter (Q2 2023: €13.9 billion).
Daimler Truck has delivered overall solid results on Group level in the second quarter. Leaving aside the negative one-time effect of the impairment in China, our adjusted Return on Sales for the Industrial Business would have been again double-digit. The segments Trucks North America and Daimler Buses have shown an excellent performance with record margins. However, demand in key truck markets particularly in Asia and Europe has weakened, giving us stronger headwinds. This is also reflected in our updated full-year guidance with an expected adjusted Return on Sales in the range of 8 to 9.5% for the Industrial Business. This does not satisfy us. We as a team will work very focused and diligently to turn 2024 into another good year for Daimler Truck.
Adjusted Group EBIT in the reporting period was €1.17 billion (Q2 2023: €1.43 billion). In the Industrial Business (IB), adjusted EBIT was €1.16 billion (Q2 2023: €1.36 billion). Adjusted return on sales (adj. ROS) in the IB was at 9.3% (Q2 2023: 10.3%). Free cash flow (FCF) of the IB decreased to minus €285 million (Q2 2023: €382 million), mainly driven by negative timing effects. The FCF in Q2 balances out with the strong cash flow performance in Q1 of €1.2 billion resulting in a half-year FCF of €928 million. Earnings per share in Q2 amounted to €0.93 (Q2 2023: €1.11). In line with the contraction of the truck markets, the Group's global sales in Q2 totaled 112,195 units (Q2 2023: 131,888). Sales of battery-electric vehicles grew by 69% to 648 vehicles (Q2 2023: 383).
In North America we see a strong performance historically and versus our peers. This once more demonstrates our strength in this market. At Mercedes-Benz, a lot of efforts have been taken to improve our cost structure. However, we cannot be satisfied with the Q2 result. It is clear that we have to define and implement further structural measures to optimize our cost base to become more resilient. Cash generation will continue to be a high focus in the second half of the year. We will ensure that our shareholders continue to benefit from the solid results on Group level with an attractive dividend and the ongoing share buyback program.
