LEINFELDEN-ECHTERDINGEN (dpa-AFX) - Commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck continues to give investors hope for good business after recently raising its forecast. The group could end up in the upper end of the 8.5 to 10 percent operating return range targeted for the vehicle business this year and is working to get to the upper end, Chief Executive Officer Martin Daum said Tuesday in a conference call with analysts. However, he said the company felt comfortable with the corridor in light of cost increases in the second half of the year and supply chains that remain fragile. Daimler Truck had only raised the range to its current level in mid-July.

Daimler Truck shares fell 2.5 percent to 33.30 euros after the start of trading, making them one of the weakest Dax stocks. The company had already raised its outlook in July and also presented key data. The stock has gained 15 percent so far this year. The record high of the commercial vehicle manufacturer, which was brought to the stock exchange in December 2021 by the former Daimler Group (now Mercedes-Benz), was 35.755 euros in January 2022.

Analyst Himanschu Agarwal expects Daimler Truck to reach the upper end of its margin forecast, he wrote in an assessment. For market expectations, the results should mean upside potential.

When it comes to orders, management - like Volkswagen Group rival Traton - remains confident. In the most important market of North America, the order books for the coming year are still not open. In the second quarter, for example, the company again booked fewer orders than a year earlier.

In the months of April to June, the Swabians took orders for 96,936 vehicles, 13 percent fewer, as they announced in Leinfelden-Echterdingen near Stuttgart. In Europe, the company has already accepted orders for the first quarter of 2024 - orders here normalized at a very high level, said CFO Jochen Goetz.

Sales climbed 15 percent in the second quarter to almost 13.9 billion euros. Unit sales were up 9 percent to 131,888 vehicles. Earnings before interest and taxes, adjusted for special items, rose by 41 percent to around 1.43 billion euros. This was mainly due to price increases, said Goetz. At the bottom line, net income rose from 946 million euros a year earlier to 1.0 billion euros. The increase was lower than in operating profit because, among other things, significantly more taxes were incurred.

Thanks to strong demand, Daimler Truck launched the biggest price increases ever in the Group last year. This is still having an impact at present. Goetz said he intends to keep prices high in view of the order situation.

In North America, the largest and most profitable division, Goetz expects the third quarter to be as strong as the previous quarter. According to its own calculations, Daimler Truck had a market share of 41 percent in the particularly expensive heavy-duty trucks there (Class 8) in the first five months. Thanks to its strong position in the U.S., Daimler Truck also sees itself as the world market leader in heavy trucks./men/mne/jha/