German MAN AG, Europe’s third largest truck maker, posted a 36 percent rise in operating profit for the third quarter on Wednesday and raised its full-year targets.
Growing transport needs boosted demand for heavy trucks and diesel engines, helping lift quarterly operating profit to €378 million, beating the average estimate of €356 million.
Despite a €6 million operating loss at its bus and coach business in the quarter, while its core commercial vehicles division grew by a fifth to € 212 million.
This year ``will be an outstanding period for the MAN group,'' Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson said. ``It is growing at a double-digit rate and we have once again upgraded our profitability'' target.
Raising forecast
Raising its forecasts for the third time this year, MAN now expects 2007 order intake to rise by over ten percent and sales to increase 15 percent to about €15 billion.
It also expects operating margin of 10.7 percent.
Previously MAN had forecast its operating return on sales would just beat the 10 percent mark this year amid a 5 percent gain in new orders and over 10 percent more turnover.
MAN shares raised as much as €4.07, or 3.4 percent, to €122.40 and were up 3.3 percent as of 9:42 a.m. in Frankfurt trading.
The stock has climbed 79 percent this year, the second- biggest gain on Germany's benchmark DAX Index after Volkswagen AG, the truck maker's and Swedish rival Scania’s largest shareholder.
October 31 2007