Daimler 2020 Profit Humbles Guidance And Forecasts

Daimler completed the financial year of 2020 in a challenging environment with a very strong fourth quarter, in particular with regard to Industrial Free Cash Flow.

All divisions contributed to this success. Mercedes-Benz Cars and Vans exceeded key financial metrics of the financial year 2019.

Industrial Free Cash Flow, Daimler Group EBIT, Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans Return on Sales adjusted and Daimler Mobility Return on Equity adjusted are all significantly above Daimler’s guidance or significantly above market expectations for the financial year 2020.

Daimler 2020 Profit Humbles Guidance And Forecasts

The Industrial Free Cash Flow in the fourth quarter reflects the continued extensive cost and cash preservation measures and strong operative performances across all divisions leading to favourable cash-conversion ratios.

Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, stated: “Our strategic initiatives and our intense operational efforts are combining to deliver a significant improvement in financial performance across the company. We have continued to keep a tight grip on cost and cash while on the commercial side we have seen strong demand for our products across all major markets and divisions.

At Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans, we were able to combine a rapid acceleration in xEV sales with a strong financial result in Q4. At Daimler Trucks, the recovery of the US-market has accelerated and we are beginning to see a positive impact from new efficiency measures in our European operations. We intend to continue to make further progress on cost-efficiencies in 2021 and will accelerate the implementation of our strategic initiatives,”

The following stated figures for the FY 2020 are preliminary and unaudited:

• Industrial Free Cash Flow: € 8,259 million (consensus: € 5,296 million);
  Industrial Free Cash Flow adjusted: € 9,155 million (consensus: n/a)

• Net Industrial Liquidity: € 17.9 billion (end of Q3 2020: € 13.1 billion)

• Daimler Group EBIT: € 6,603 million (consensus: € 5,245 million);
  EBIT adjusted: € 8,641 million (consensus: € 7,120 million)
• Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans EBIT: € 5,172 million (consensus: € 3,850 million);
  EBIT adjusted: € 6,802 million (consensus: € 5,390 million);
  Return on Sales (RoS) adjusted: 6.9% (consensus: 5.5%)

• Daimler Trucks & Buses EBIT: € 525 million (consensus: € 556 million);
  adjusted EBIT: € 678 million (consensus: € 689 million);
  Return on Sales (RoS) adjusted: 2.0% (consensus: 2.0%)

• Daimler Mobility EBIT: € 1,436 million (consensus: € 1,318 million);
  adjusted EBIT: € 1,595 million (consensus: € 1,449 million);
  Return on Equity (RoE) adjusted: 10.9% (consensus: n/a)

The preliminary results include the following adjustments affecting Daimler Group EBIT and Industrial Free Cash Flow:

• Legal proceedings
  affecting EBIT: € 164 million
  affecting Industrial Free Cash Flow: € 595 million

• Restructuring
  affecting EBIT: € 1,874 million
  affecting Industrial Free Cash Flow: € 301 million

Given the development of successful cost discipline continued in the fourth quarter and expected good underlying demand, Daimler also anticipates a positive business development in 2021. The current semiconductor shortages and COVID-19 disruptions will probably impact the first quarter of 2021. Please note these statements are made under the assumption of no further COVID-19 lockdowns.

Daimler AG will publish further key figures of the financial year 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2020 on February 18, 2021. Daimler will provide guidance for the financial year 2021 together with the full-year results.

EBIT, EBIT adjusted, RoS adjusted, RoE adjusted, Industrial Free Cash Flow and Industrial Free Cash Flow adjusted are defined on pp. 64 and 73 of the Daimler Annual Report 2019.