Daimler Swings to Quarterly Loss, Dragged by Chrysler

Daimler stopped short of giving a profit forecast for this year after delivering a disastrous fourth-quarter loss weighed down by significant losses and charges at Chrysler.

It swung to a loss before interest and tax (EBIT) of 1.95 billion euros ($2.47 billion), the company said on Tuesday, significantly short of the average estimate of a 250 million loss from a Reuters poll of 21 analysts.

Chrysler reduced 2008 group EBIT by 1.39 billion euros given Daimler's 19.9 percent equity stake in the U.S. carmaker.

This did not include another 1.84 billion for the impairment of loans and other Chrysler-related assets.

Daimler forecast group revenue would be likely lower in all of the vehicle divisions.

"Further substantial burdens are anticipated on the earnings of the group and its divisions," it said in a statement. "A more detailed statement on earnings will only be possible later in the year, when the development of the world economy and the automotive markets can be better assessed."

As a result of a severe crisis in the industry, Daimler is intensifying its efforts to cut costs and boost efficiencies.

It proposed paying a dividend of 0.60 euros per share, down substantially from 2.00 euros a year ago, after its net profit for the full year slumped 65 percent to 1.41 billion euros.

Previously, Daimler had said sales at Mercedes-Benz Cars fell 2.3 percent to 1.26 million vehicles in 2008.

Its heavy trucks business managed growth of nearly 1 percent to 472,100 vehicles.

In its last public forecast upon releasing third-quarter results in October, Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said only that markets deteriorated more than management had anticipated when asked whether Daimler had achieved its 2008 operating profit target of over 6 billion euros.

As a result of the ferocious downturn, Zetsche has called 2009 a "Darwinian year" for the auto industry.

Much like rival BMW, Mercedes-Benz benefited from debt-fuelled consumerism in markets like the United States where the company pushed volumes with attractively priced leasing deals that ended up costing Daimler nearly 450 million euros through the end of September.

Shares of Daimler fell 3.7 percent to 22.68 euros by the close, while the German blue-chip DAX index was down 3.1 percent.

According to StarMine, which weights analysts' forecasts according to their track record, shares in Daimler trade at 11.6 times forward earnings.

This values it in line with fellow car and heavy truck maker Fiat but considerably cheaper than BMW's P/E ratio of 18.1 for the next 12 months.

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