CORRECTED - UPDATE 1-Germany's MAN sees order rise after Q2 profit

Thu Jul 29, 2010 3:13am EDT

(Corrects Q2 operating profit in bullet and paragraph 3 to 276 million euros, not 278 million) * Q2 oper profit 276 mln eur vs 224 mln seen in Reuters poll

* Sees significant increase in order intake for full year

* Sees 10 percent revenue growth in full year

* Core European truck unit posts 71 mln eur Q2 oper profit (Adds details, background)

MUNICH, July 29 (Reuters) - German industrial group MAN SE (MANG.DE) returned to profitability in its core European truck operations in the second quarter as promised and forecast a significant increase in group order intake for the full year.

After demand for new trucks halved in size virtually overnight last year as a result of the global economic slowdown, truck makers are optimistic they are out of the trough of the cycle.

Group operating profit rose to 276 million in the second quarter, beating the 224 million forecast in a Reuters poll of 13 banks and brokerages. Order intake in the period totalled 3.7 billion euros.

European truck unit MAN Nutzfahrzeuge posted a 71 million euro operating profit in the second quarter, while MAN's Brazilian unit, bought from Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) last year, saw a 96 million euro operating profit in the same period.

Second-quarter new truck orders at MAN Nutzfahrzeuge rose 90 percent to 15,185 vehicles.

"The MAN Group expects to continue its positive performance and, for full-year 2010, is forecasting a significant increase in order intake, revenue growth of more than 10 percent, and a return on sales at the level of the first six months," it said.

First-half group sales rose to 6.7 billion euros from 5.7 billion euros a year earlier.

Industry data published last week by Brussels-based ACEA showed a 17 percent increase in registrations of the largest new commercial trucks in June over the corresponding figure in 2009, marking the first monthly increase in two years. [ID:nLDE66L1DV]

On Tuesday, industry leader Daimler Trucks (DAIGn.DE) raised its 2010 operating profit forecast for the second time this year to 1 billion euros, five times as much as management initially forecast in February. [ID:nLDE66M1BL]

Swedish rival Scania (SCVb.ST), which like MAN has German carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) as its controlling investor, posted a record operating margin of 17 percent, a level of profitability more likely to be found at luxury carmaker Porsche AG (PSHG_p.DE) than at a truckmaker. (Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner, editing by Will Waterman)

Related Quotes and News

Company
Price
Related News
Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.