Daimler Sees 8 Per Cent Sales Rise In 1997

Germany's Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG (Dasa) said on Sunday it expected strong orders in the first quarter to lead to an eight per cent rise in sales and further improvement in profit for all of 1997.

Sales in the first quarter rose considerably to 3.9 billion marks ($2.2 billion), Dasa chief executive Manfred Bischoff said at a news conference at the Paris airshow.

A spokesman said the figure was a "considerable" improvement over last year's first quarter, but gave no comparative figure.

Bischoff said: "We expect an eight percent increase in sales in 1997 and for sure improvement in profit again."

 

Orders, especially from its activities in the Airbus Industrie commercial airliner consortium, improved markedly in the first quarter, the spokesman said.

But Bischoff said he did not think the sales would continue to increase as fast through the rest of the year. (Reuter)

Profit gains would come as a result of Dasa's nearly completed reorganisation into six buisnes units and cost-cutting measures, the company said.

In 1996, at the unit of car maker Daimler-Benz AG fell 13.2 percent to 13.1 billion marks, but the company turned a profit after a loss in 1995. The unit does not break out profit results.