• Group revenue in Q2 of €13.3 billion (Q2 2023: €13.9 billion)
• Adjusted Group EBIT of €1.17 billion (Q2 2023: €1.43 billion)
• Adjusted return on sales in the Industrial Business at 9.3% (Q2 2023: 10.3%)
• Profitability impacted by non-cash impairment of €120 million in China business
• Record margins in segments Trucks North America and Daimler Buses, stronger headwinds for Mercedes-Benz in Europe
• Earnings per share: €0.93 (Q2 2023: €1.11)
• Outlook for the 2024 financial year updated

Leinfelden-Echterdingen – 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). 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).

As already disclosed Daimler Truck has fully impaired the at-equity book value of its China Joint Venture BFDA (Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co., Ltd.) due to the negative impact of the current market and economic situation in China. This had a negative one-time, non-cash impact on adj. EBIT of the segment Trucks Asia and the IB of €120 million in Q2. Excluding this one-time impact, the Q2 IB adj. ROS of 9.3% would amount to 10.2%. Without the full impact of the China business including the BFDA impairment, the Trucks Asia margin would have been around 4.7%.

Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler Truck: “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.”

The segments Trucks North America and Daimler Buses further increased profitability delivering quarterly record results. The results of Trucks North America were supported by improved net pricing and favorable effects from the sales mix. In the Daimler Buses segment, significantly higher unit sales versus the previous year's level, improved net pricing and effects from the sales mix contributed to the overall positive results. The market environment in core truck markets in Europe became more challenging, resulting in increased headwinds for the segment Mercedes-Benz. Significantly lower unit sales particularly in the EU30 region, unfavorable effects from the sales mix and an underutilization in production led to overall declining results for Mercedes-Benz. Financial Services’ results were driven by higher cost of risk in America mainly due to the freight recession.

Outlook updated

Daimler Truck has updated its full year guidance for the year 2024: For the current financial year, the Group is now expecting unit sales of 460 to 480 thousand units and revenue of €53 to €55 billion. EBIT is expected to be significantly below prior year’s level. Adjusted EBIT is expected to be slightly below prior year's level.

For the Industrial Business, Daimler Truck expects a revenue of €50 to €52 billion and an adjusted ROS of 8% to 9.5%. The free cash flow of the Industrial Business is now expected to be on prior year level.

For Trucks North America, the Group is now expecting an adjusted ROS for the full year at the top end of the guidance range (11% to 13%). For the Mercedes-Benz segment, the adjusted ROS is now expected to be between 6% to 8% with sales of 120 to 135 thousand units. In the Trucks Asia segment, an adjusted ROS of 1.5% to 3.5% is now expected, due to the special item from the BFDA impairment, with sales of 120 to 140 thousand units. Daimler Truck now anticipates an adjusted ROS of 6.5% to 8.5% for the Daimler Buses segment. For Financial Services, the Group is now expecting a Return on Equity (ROE) between 6% and 8%, with new business of €10 to €12 billion.

Eva Scherer, CFO of Daimler Truck: “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.”

Key Figures – Group and Segments

*in millions of €
**in percent

Additional information and documents such as the Interim Report, Factbook as well as a detailed Q2 2024 disclosure on Daimler Truck’s five reporting segments are available online in Daimler Truck’s investor relations section:

https://www.daimlertruck.com/en/investors/q2-2024-press

Daimler Truck Holding AG is listed in Germany's stock market index DAX. Daimler Truck Holding AG shares are traded on the Regulated Market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the stock symbol DTG. The International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) is DE000DTR0CK8, the German Securities Identification Number (WKN)