OREANDA-NEWS. Daimler AG presented its preliminary and unaudited figures for the Group and its divisions for the year 2012.

The Group’s net profit amounted to 6.5 billion euro (2011: 6.0 billion euro), including the gain on the sale of 7.5% of the shares of EADS. Earnings per share amounted to 5.71 euro (2011: 5.32 euro).

EBIT also includes significantly higher expenses in connection with the compounding of non-current provisions (2012: 543 million euro; 2011: 225 million euro).

The repositioning of the European and North American business systems of Daimler Buses, which was decided upon in the first quarter of 2012, resulted in expenses of 155 million euro. The sale of 7.5% of the shares in EADS resulted in a gain of 709 million euro in the reporting period.

As previously announced, Daimler further increased its unit sales. Sales of 2.2 million euro vehicles were 4% higher than in 2011. Mercedes-Benz Cars and Daimler Trucks were responsible for the growth, while the Mercedes-Benz Vans and Daimler Buses divisions did not match their unit sales of the prior year. The Group’s total revenue improved by 7% to 114.3 billion euro; adjusted for exchange-rate effects, there was an increase of 4%.

The net liquidity of the industrial business amounted to 11.5 billion euro at December 31, 2012 (2011: 12.0 billion euro). The free cash flow of the industrial business amounted to 1.5 billion euro in 2012.