Daimler Trucks Shares Fall as Group Expresses Concerns About European Demand From Investing.com

Investing.com — Shares of Daimler Truck (ETR:) fell on Friday after the German company pointed to weaknesses in its European operations despite reporting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.

In a call with analysts following the release of its latest three-month results, CEO Martin Daum warned that “gloomy” sentiment in Germany was weighing on demand in Europe. He added that because Daimler Trucks has a large presence in Germany compared to the rest of Europe, the country’s weakness threatens the performance of the region as a whole.

Truck manufacturers like Daimler Truck have been struggling with sharp sales slumps since the pandemic, but price increases have helped some companies offset lower orders and strengthen margins.

Orders at Daimler Truck’s Europe-focused Mercedes-Benz (OTC:) division fell 15%. Core profits for the segment fell 4%.

Jefferies analysts noted that results from the company’s financial services segment were also “slightly weak” due to increased risk costs.

But group-wide core profit for the quarter was still ahead of estimates of 1.17 billion euros, at 1.21 billion euros, according to a company-provided poll cited by Reuters. This is thanks in part to the resilience of the company’s North American operations.

Elsewhere, Daimler Trucks reaffirmed its targets for annual deliveries of 490,000 to 510,000 vehicles and sales of 55 to 57 billion euros.