Mercedes 2012 Annual Report Download - page 93

98
Other operating expense decreased slightly to €0.3 billion
(2011: €0.4 billion).

3.23
Further information on the composition of other operating
income and expense is provided in E Note 6 of the Notes
to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
In 2012, our share of profit from investments accounted
for using the equity method improved to €1.0 billion
(2011: €0.3 billion). The increase primarily reflects the sale
of 7.5% of the shares of EADS.

3.23
Other financial expense increased from €0.2 billion in 2011
to €0.5 billion in 2011. This is mainly due to higher expenses
from the compounding of provisions and effects from changes
in discount rates of €0.5 billion (2011: €0.2 billion).

3.23
The Group recorded a net interest expense of €0.9 billion
(2011: €0.3 billion). The causes of the higher interest expense
were higher expenses in connection with pension and health-
care obligations and an increase in other interest expenses.
The prior-year figure includes positive effects from interest-rate
hedging instruments.

3.23
The income tax expense for 2012 of €1.2 billion (2011:
€2.4 billion) decreased partially due to the lower pre-tax profit.
Profit before income taxes in 2012 includes the mainly tax-
free gain on the sale of EADS shares. Both years were affected
by tax benefits from the reversal of impairments recognized
on deferred tax assets and 2012 was also affected by tax benefits
from the tax assessment of prior years. The effective tax rate
in 2012 was 15.8% (2011: 28.6%).

3.23
Net profit for the year amounts to €6.5 billion (2011: €6.0
billion), of which €400 million is attributable to non-controlling
interest of subsidiaries (2011: €362 million). Net profit attrib-
utable to shareholders of Daimler AG amounts to €6.1 billion
(2011: €5.7 billion), representing earnings per share of
€5.71 (2011: €5.32).

3.23
The calculation of earnings per share (basic) is based on
an average number of outstanding shares of 1,066.8 million
(2011: 1,066.0 million).
Dividend
We want our shareholders to participate appropriately in our
financial success. In setting the dividend, we aim to distribute
approximately 40% of the net profit attributable to Daimler
shareholders. The Board of Management and the Supervisory
Board will propose to the shareholders for their approval at
the Annual Meeting to be held on April 10, 2013 that a dividend
of €2.20 per share be paid out (2011: €2.20). The total
dividend payment will then amount to €2,349 million (2011:
€2,346 million).

3.24
Research and development, environmental protection
Research and development is an important success factor.
Research and development have always been given very high
priority at Daimler. Our research activities help us to anticipate
trends as well as customers’ desires and the requirements
they place on future mobility, which are then consistently inte-
grated into series products by our development engineers.
Our goal is to provide our customers with exciting products and
tailored solutions for needs-oriented, safe and sustainable
mobility. We organize our technology portfolio and our core
competencies to ensure that we achieve this goal.
E see pages 164 ff
Key factors for the market success of our vehicles are
the expertise, creativity and motivation of our employees in
research and development. At the end of the year 2012,
21,100 persons were employed in Daimler’s research and devel-
opment departments around the world (end of 2011: 23,200).
The decrease was primarily due to the deconsolidation of MBtech
Group. E see page 86 Of that total, 13,400 persons were
employed at Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Develop-
ment (2011: 15,600), 5,600 at the Daimler Trucks division
(2011: 5,500), 1,000 at the Mercedes-Benz Vans division (2011:
1,000) and 1,100 at Daimler Buses (2011: 1,100). More than
4,300 research and development personnel were employed
outside Germany (2011: 4,400).
Dividend per share
In euros
3.24
2008
0.60
2009
0.00
2011
2.20
2012
2.20
2010
1.85
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0