OREANDA-NEWS. Daimler AG achieved earnings below the prior-year level in the first three months of 2013. The Daimler Group posted first-quarter EBIT of EUR 917 million (Q1 2012: EUR 2,098 million). Net profit amounted to EUR 564 million (Q1 2012: EUR 1,425 million). Earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.50 (Q1 2012: EUR 1.26).

In the first quarter of 2013, Daimler sold 501,600 cars and commercial vehicles worldwide, and was thus close to the prior-year level (Q1 2012: 502,100).

Daimler’s first-quarter revenue of EUR 26.1 billion was 3% lower than in the first quarter of last year. Adjusted for changes in currency exchange rates, there was a decrease of 1.5%.

The free cash flow of the industrial business amounted to minus EUR 1.2 billion, primarily due to ongoing high expenditure of EUR 1.6 billion for investment in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets. The net liquidity of the industrial business amounted to EUR 10.0 billion at March 31, 2013.

At the end of the first quarter of 2013, Daimler employed 274,555 people worldwide (end of Q1 2012: 274,127). Of that total, 166,265 were employed in Germany (Q1 2012: 168,017), 21,702 in the United States (Q1 2012: 21,520), 14,622 in Brazil (Q1 2012: 14,737) and 11,242 in Japan (Q1 2012: 11,344). The consolidated subsidiaries in China employed 1,743 persons at the end of the first quarter (Q1 2012: 2,269). The headcount changes in China result from the transition of the sales organizations for cars into a non-consolidated joint venture. In addition, employees in sales functions in South Africa, who were previously allocated to the Mercedes-Benz Cars division, are now allocated to the sales organization.