Mercedes-Benz 3Q Net Profit, Revenue Drop on Lower Demand, Currency Effects

By David Sachs

Mercedes-Benz reported lower third-quarter net profit and revenue after demand softened and foreign-exchange rates hurt its bottom line.

The German luxury-car maker said Thursday its net profit in the quarter fell by 7% on year to 3.72 billion euros ($3.93 billion), while revenue fell 1.4% to EUR37.20 billion.

Car sales fell 3.7% to around 510,500, the auto maker said, though van sales rose 1.1% to about 106,000.

"Healthy net pricing partially offset slightly lower volumes and the change in model mix," the company said. Currency effects also hurt the bottom line, Mercedes-Benz said.

Mercedes-Benz's cars segment posted an adjusted return on sales of 12.4%, down from 14.5% a year ago. The vans business increased its adjusted margin to 15% from 13% in the prior-year period.

Earnings before interest and taxes finished the quarter down 6.8% to EUR4.84 billion. Free cash flow for the industrial business tumbled 22% to EUR2.35 billion on lower passenger car sales and higher investments in technology, the company said.

Write to David Sachs at david.sachs@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2023 01:37 ET (05:37 GMT)

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