Mercedes 2009 Annual Report Download - page 101

Management Report |Daimler AG |97
In addition to reporting on the Daimler Group, in this section,
we also describe the development of Daimler AG.
Daimler AG is the parent company of the Daimler Group and
is domiciled in Stuttgart. Its principal business activities comprise
the development, production and distribution of cars, vans and
trucks in Germany and the management of the Daimler Group.
The vehicles are produced at the domestic plants of Daimler AG,
under contract-manufacturing agreements by foreign subsidiaries,
and by producers of special vehicles. Daimler AG distributes
its products through its own sales network with 34 German sales-
and-service centers, through foreign sales subsidiaries, and
through third parties.
Unlike Daimler’s consolidated financial statements, which are
prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRS), the annual financial statements of Daimler AG
are prepared according to the German Commercial Code (HGB).
This results in some differences with regard to recognition and
measurement, mainly relating to intangible assets, provisions,
financial instruments and deferred taxes.
Profitability
The year 2009 was substantially affected by the global financial
and economic crisis. This resulted in drastic slumps in demand for
motor vehicles, particularly in the industrialized countries during
the first few months of the year. In this difficult market environ-
ment, Daimler AG recorded a loss on ordinary activities of €4.4
billion (2008: loss of €0.2 billion).
The increased loss was primarily caused by lower unit sales of new
and used vehicles, and was only partially offset by actions taken
to reduce and avoid costs. Revenue fell by €16.5 billion to €47.2
billion. As a result of changes to the domestic leasing business,
since February 1, 2009, Mercedes-Benz Leasing GmbH has been
invoiced for the vehicles. This had a positive effect on revenue in
2009. The revenue generated by sales of cars decreased because
of lower unit sales and changes in the model mix by €7.8 billion
to €34.4 billion. Due to the worldwide recession, Daimler AG also
recorded a substantial fall in revenue from trucks and vans of
€8.6 billion to €12.8 billion. Unit sales and revenue increased
again slightly in the second half of the year.
The result of operations in the car business worsened significantly
compared to the prior year and was a loss. Revenue was also
below the prior-year level. This was primarily due to the distinct
weakening of demand for cars and the resulting fall in unit sales.
In total, Daimler AG sold 1,038,000 new vehicles in 2009 (2008:
1,325,000). The 20% increase in unit sales of the E-Class to
217,000 units did not compensate for the decreases for the other
model series. A weak first half of the year was followed by a sig-
nificantly better second half, partially due to the market success
of the new E-Class. Earnings were reduced also by ongoing
intense competition and pressure on prices, as well as by advance
expenditure for the further reduction of CO
2
emissions. There
was a positive effect on earnings from the measures taken at an
early stage to reduce costs, in particular from the adjustment
of personnel costs (for a limited duration) and the intensification
of the efficiency-enhancing program that was already running.
Daimler AG
abridged version according to HGB
in millions of €
63,682
(57,064)
(5,553)
(2,573)
(6)
1,359
(155)
(177)
(332)
100
–
788
556
–
–
(4,765)
–
47,177
(44,503)
(4,389)
(2,178)
(68)
(403)
(4,364)
(401)
(4,765)
Dec. 31, 2008
Revenue
Cost of sales (including R&D expenses)
Selling expenses
General administrative expenses
Other operating expense
Financial income (expense)
Loss on ordinary activities
Income tax expense
Loss for the year
Profit brought forward
Transfer from capital reserve
Transfer from retained earnings
Balance sheet profit
Dec. 31, 2009
Abridged statement of income (loss) of Daimler AG