Daimler Q3 profit falls on diesel costs, special items

BERLIN: Daimler's third-quarter operating profit declined, as the cost of making diesel engine cars run cleaner and other special items outweighed record sales of Mercedes-Benz luxury models.

Earnings before interest and tax ( EBIT) at the German automotive group plunged 14 percent to 3.46 billion euros ($4.08 billion) in the July-to-September period, Daimler said on Friday, in line with the 3.43 billion-euro consensus forecast in a Reuters poll of banks and brokerages.

Daimler last quarter spent about 220 million euros to update over 3 million current and older Mercedes diesel models in Europe to curb pollution and help avert driving bans.

The cars and trucks manufacturer stuck with its guidance for a significant increase in group EBIT this year. It said it now expected EBIT at its trucks division to also significantly exceed year-ago levels, having previously guided for flat EBIT.