DaimlerChrysler left investors guessing about plans to return excess cash to shareholders as the German car maker reported second-quarter operating profits today in line with market expectations.
Earnings before interest and tax fell to €2.13 billion in the quarter from €2.37 billion a year earlier, when it had booked a one-off gain worth over 800 million.
Revenue slipped to €23.8 billion from €24.6 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
The sale in May of an 80.1 percent stake in Chrysler and its North American financial services business for €5.5 billion has pushed the company -- to be renamed Daimler AG in October if shareholders agree -- out of the world's 10 biggest car makers by sales.
But the move has also cut its exposure to gyrating earnings at Chrysler.
DaimlerChrysler said it now anticipated a charge against earnings of €2.5 billion in 2007 as a consequence of the Chrysler sale. This is less than the estimate of €3-4 billion it had made in May.