Daimler says its sales jumped 13% in the first quarter of 2021

Daimler AG (ETR: DAI) raised its guidance for the full financial year on Friday as performance remained robust in the first quarter.

Daimler shares opened more than 1% up in the stock market on Friday. Including the price action, it is now exchanging hands at £64.82 per share. In comparison, Daimler had started the year 2021 at a per-share price of a much lower £49.46. The price action should come in handy if you are interested in investing in the stock market.

Daimler reports £3.80 billion of net profit

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Daimler said it sold 728,600 vehicles in the first quarter that represents an annualised growth of 13%. At £35.63 billion, revenue in Q1 jumped significantly from £32.32 billion in the same quarter last year.

The owner of luxury car brand, Mercedes-Benz, reported £3.80 billion of net profit in the recent quarter versus the year-ago figure of £145.98 million. On a per-share basis, Daimler earned £3.48 in Q1, compared to 7.8 pence per share last year.

CFO Harald Wilhelm commented on the financial update on Friday and said:

“Deliveries, revenues and profits increased significantly, particularly thanks to tailwinds in China, a strong product mix and favourable pricing, supported by industrial performance enhancements and cost control. After this promising start, we are very confident that we can keep up the pace to improve our margins on a sustainable basis and at the same time expand our electric vehicle line-up.”

In separate news from Europe, UK’s FirstGroup said it sold its North American bus businesses to EQT infrastructure for £3.31 billion.

Other notable figures in Daimler’s quarterly report

Other prominent figures in the carmaker’s quarterly report include £1.56 billion of inflow and £2.09 billion of research and development expenditure. In its prior report published in February, Daimler had posted an 11% decline in revenue in 2020.

As quarterly performance showed resilience, the German car manufacturer lifted its full-year guidance for margin attributed to Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans and Daimler Mobility divisions. Adjusted return on Mercedes-Benz sales, the company highlighted, are now expected between 10% and 12%. Mobility division, Daimler said, is likely to report 14% to 15% of adjusted return on equity.

Daimler performed fairly upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of close to 20%. At the time of writing, the German multinational is valued at £69.31 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 21.99.