Berlin: German premium carmaker Mercedes-Benz reported a 22% rise in second-quarter operating profit but flagged weakness in its core cars business on Tuesday, now forecasting a drop in overall sales due to problems in China.
Group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) came in at €1.5 billion ($1.71 billion), slightly below an average analyst estimate of €1.6 billion, according to a poll conducted by Visible Alpha.
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Mercedes now expects both sales of cars and group revenue to come in slightly below the prior-year level in 2026, having previous forecast a stagnation.
The group result in the April-to-June period was supported by strong earnings at Mercedes' financial services and vans units. It also benefited from a €131 million gain linked to the planned sale of its leasing subsidiary Athlon.
"Despite a demanding market environment, we remained on track in the second quarter while continuing to advance our product launch programme," CEO Ola Kaellenius said, vowing further cost-cutting measures in the second half of the year.
($1 = 0.8795 euros)
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