Daimler second-quarter profit rises, group keeps guidance

BERLIN (Reuters) - Daimler's second-quarter operating profit rose on higher earnings from vans and bus operations, as the group kept to its guidance for a small increase in full-year profit.

Earnings before interest and tax (Ebit), adjusted for special items, climbed "significantly above" market expectations to 3.97 billion euros ($4.39 billion) from 3.76 billion a year earlier, Stuttgart-based Daimler said in preliminary results published on Monday after trading hours.

While quarterly earnings at Mercedes-Benz Vans almost doubled to 462 million euros, Ebit at the flagship luxury cars division eased to 2.21 billion euros from 2.23 billion and profit at Daimler Trucks slid to 661 million euros from 717 million.

But Daimler stood by forecasts for the group's adjusted full-year Ebit to slightly beat 2015 levels, with higher earnings at Mercedes-Benz cars, vans and bus operations seen offsetting a strong decline in trucks, it said.

"Just when Brexit has increased macro risks and Daimler has just recently warned on its trucks outlook, Daimler delivers a material beat," Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said.

Ellinghorst, who downgraded Daimler's stock from hold to sell last month after the company cut its trucks outlook, said the quarterly group Ebit figure beat his own estimate by 17 percent.

Special items weighing on Daimler's quarterly earnings include almost 500 million euros of costs for recalls of cars and vans fitted with Takata Corp airbags, 400 million euros of unidentified legal charges and 284 million of net inventory costs, according to Daimler.

The group is scheduled to publish full quarterly results on July 21.

($1 = 0.9046 euros)

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer, editing by David Evans)