|
DaimlerChrysler sales zoom
|
 |
December 24, 1998: 3:56 p.m. ET
Automaker says 1998 sales rose 13%, big dividend hike on tap for '99
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - DaimlerChrysler AG Thursday reported combined group sales rose an estimated 13 percent in 1998 to 260 billion marks or $155 billion.
A spokesman for the world's fifth-largest automaker said the company expects to release more detailed results on Sunday around midday, marking the first time the automaker provided combined results since their blockbuster $38 billion merger was announced last May.
The 1998 sales increase compares with combined 1997 pro forma results of Daimler-Benz AG and Chrysler Corp., of 229 billion marks or $137 billion.
According to German news agency VWD, which obtained an advance copy of the Sunday release, DaimlerChrysler (DCX) said its total unit sales in 1998 were around 4.4 million cars.
Of that, about 850,000 vehicle sales came from Mercedes-Benz and Smart models, 3 million came from Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth and Jeep, and 480,000 came from commercial vehicles.
Chairmen Juergen Schrempp and Robert Eaton also reportedly said they expect "the first substantial positive effects of the merger in 1999," VWD reported.
DaimlerChrysler declined to comment on the German report.
However spokesman Eckard Zanger predicted there will be "a very clear increase'' in the company's dividend compared with the 1.60 mark 1997 payment made to Daimler-Benz AG shareholders before the German group's merger with Chrysler Corp. this year.
Analysts expect DaimlerChrysler to pay a 1998 dividend of more than four marks, with some estimates as high as 4.50 marks.
Analysts expect DaimlerChrysler to post a net profit of more than 10 billion marks ($6 billion) for 1998, up from a combined 1997 net result of 7.17 billion marks ($4.3 billion) adjusted for tax factors.
Dresdner Kleinwort Benson analyst Hans Hartmann expects DaimlerChrysler to post earnings per share of 10.74 marks ($6.44) for 1998, implying after-tax profit of just under 11 billion marks ($6.6 billion).
The 1998 results will not yet show cost savings benefits from the merger, Hartmann said.
DaimlerChrysler has forecast substantial profit and sales growth as well as combined savings next year of $1.4 billion, rising to $3 billion in three to five years.
-- from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
|
DaimlerChrysler
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
