Daimler first quarter profit surges 87 percent on strong Mercedes sales

FRANKFURT Daimler AG’s (DAIGn.DE) shares were set to open 3.5 percent higher on Wednesday after the maker of luxury cars pre-released better-than-expected first quarter profit, boosted by a rise in sales of its new Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

The maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks late on Tuesday said group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) jumped 87 percent to 4.01 billion euros ($4.25 billion), up from 2.15 billion euros a year ago.

The company is scheduled to release its quarterly financial report on April 26.

Analysts said that without detailed figures, a final assessment of the preliminary figures is difficult. DZ Bank analyst Michael Punzet said the “strong start into 2017 underpins our positive view on Daimler”.

EBIT at the Mercedes-Benz Cars unit rose 60 percent to 2.23 billion euros, delivering a return on sales of 9.8 percent after the division reported a 15 percent rise in first-quarter sales.

In March alone, sales of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class surged by 65 percent.

The EBIT from trucks rose 29 percent to 668 million euros.

In late March, the company had said it expected record sales volumes for its Mercedes-Benz Cars division in the first quarter.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor- Editing by Georgina Prodhan)