Daimler AG (DAI)
Q3 2009 Earnings Call Transcript
October 27, 2009 9:00 a.m. ET
Executives
Michael Muhlbayer - Head of Investor Relations and Treasury
Bodo Uebber - Chief Financial Officer
Analysts
Arndt Ellinghorst - Credit Suisse
Thierry Huon - Exane
Jochen Gehrke - Analyst
Christian Breitsprecher - Analyst
Adam Jonas - Morgan Stanley
Adam Hull - WestLB
Daniel Schwartz - Commerzbank
Frank Biller - LBBW
Juergen Pieper - Analyst
Aleksej Wunrau - BHF
Ranjit Unnithan - JPMorgan
Presentation
Operator
Welcome to the global conference call of Daimler. At our customers quest this conference will be recorded. A replay of the conference call along with presentation slides will also be available as an on demand audio web-cast on the Investor Relations SEC of the Daimler Web site. The short introduction will be directly followed by a question-and-answer session. If you want to ask a question please press star one on your telephone keypad. To remove yourself from question please press hash on your telephone keypad.
May I now hand over to Dr. Michael Muhlbayer, Head of Daimler Investor Relations and Treasury.
Michael Muhlbaye
Good afternoon, this is Michael Muhlbayer speaking. On behalf of Daimler, I would like to welcome to you our third quarter presentation. We are happy to have with us today Bodo Uebber, CFO of Daimler. In order to give you maximum time for your questions, Bodo Uebber will begin with a short introduction directly followed by Q&A.
Before we start, I have a couple of details. I would like to remind you that this call is governed by the Safe Harbor wording that you find in our published documents. Please note that our presentations contain forward-looking statements reflecting management''s current views with respect to future events. These forward-looking statements can be identified by expressions like assume, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, intend, may, plan, project and should. These statements are subject to many risks and uncertainties, examples of which are set out in Safe Harbor wording in our documents that are described in our most recent form 20-F under heading risk factors. If the assumptions underlying any of these statements proof incorrect than actual results may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these statements. Forward-looking statements speak only to the date they are made.
Now, I would like to hand over to Bodo Uebber.
Bodo Uebber
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our conference call on the third quarter results and thank you for joining us. You are already familiar with the first chart of today''s presentation which shows the market development in the triad markets and consequences of the worldwide economic crisis on the demand for motor vehicles. The actual numbers did not become much friendlier during the most recent quarter and 2009 will mark the worst year in economic terms for decades.
While it seems that the low point has been reached in the meantime in most of the industry''s and most markets. Many emerging markets are also doing better than the industrialized countries above all China and Brazil. But there are also some countries still very much affected by the crisis, for example, Russia and Eastern Europe. And it would be far too early to return to normal, although, there are some early indicators for a recovery from a very low level.
How did our divisions perform in this difficult market environment? We saw a sharp decline in the first quarter but we also clearly noticed that our unit sales have stabilized during the course of the year. After the seasonally weaker summer months of July and August Mercedes-Benz Cars achieved its strongest month of the year in September. Unit sales gained momentum from the launch of the new E-Class sedan and coupe and the new E-Class station wagon will support this development. Unit sales of Daimler Trucks Division have stabilized at a very low level in the third quarter.
First signs of recovery can be recognized in various markets and the incoming orders for all products to make us feel more confident. Weak markets continue to affect Mercedes-Benz Vans business development as well with 40,100 vehicles sold in the third quarter, sales were better than the average of the first two quarters of this year.
Especially in Western Europe Mercedes-Benz Vans managed to stabilize its unit sales and to further strengthen its market position. Daimler buses sold 8,400 buses and chassis Q3, 23% below the level of the prior year period but a further slight increase compared to the second quarter of this year. While the development of the city bus business continues to be stable the coach markets remain difficult.
The economic crisis and the weak vehicle demand are also reflected in the revenue of the third quarter with 19.3 billion Euros revenue remained at the level of the prior quarter. The development of EBIT also shows a gradual improvement over the three quarters of this year.
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