German luxury carmaker Daimler has reported revenue of EUR27bn for the first quarter of 2012, up 9% compared with revenue of EUR24.7bn in the same quarter previous year.
The company posted net profit of EUR1.4bn in the quarter, an increase 20% compared to EUR1.18bn in the corresponding quarter prior year, while earnings per share rose to EUR1.25 from EUR0.99 in the first quarter of 2011.
Daimler said it achieved EBIT of EUR2.13bn in the first quarter of 2012, which is slightly higher than the high prior-year level of EUR2.03bn Q1 2011.
Daimler chairman of the Board of Management and Mercedes-Benz Cars Daimler head Dieter Zetsche said despite higher investment in future growth and a challenging market environment, the company succeeded in surpassing the very good prior-year results in terms of unit sales, revenue, EBIT and net profit.
"We are on schedule to meet our targets for this year as well as our medium-term targets," Zetsche added.
The Daimler Group sold a total 502,100 cars and commercial vehicles worldwide in the first quarter 2012, an increase of 9% compared to the same quarter prior year.
Mercedes-Benz Cars sales rose by 9% to 338,300 units in the quarter, when compared to 310,700 in Q1 2011, while Daimler Trucks increased its unit sales by 21% to 107,700 vehicles.
The development of earnings was primarily driven by ongoing growth in unit sales, especially in Europe and the United States.
In 2012, Daimler expects to sell more than 2.1 million vehicles sold in the year 2011.