Daimler Truck holds 2023 outlook on supply chain disruptions

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Members of the media stand beside an electric driven Actros truck at the booth of German truckmaker Daimler Truck at the IAA Transportation fair, which will open its doors to the public on September 20, 2022, in Hanover, Germany, September 19,

BERLIN (Reuters) -Daimler Truck reported on Tuesday a rise in first-quarter return on sales but maintained its 2023 outlook due to instability in the supply chain for semiconductors which it said was partly due to cyber attacks at its suppliers.

The automaker itself had not been attacked, Chief Financial Officer Jochen Goetz said on a media call, but more and more suppliers were affected, with some taking months to recover the stolen data.

Goetz did not elaborate on where attacks were coming from or which suppliers were affected.

The truck and bus maker reported an adjusted return on sales of 8.8% in the first quarter of the year, up from 5.9% last year and towards the top end of its annual outlook for 2023, on a rise in revenue of 25%.

It kept its outlook from earlier this year unchanged, forecasting 55-57 billion euros in revenue for the year and 7.5-9% adjusted returns, citing ongoing instability in the supply chain.

"It's not stable, but it's getting better," Goetz said, adding the company was "basically sold out" for 2023.

It confirmed preliminary results released late April of a 78% jump in operating profit to 1.162 billion euros ($1.28 billion), with unit sales up 15%.

Its Asia business, which struggled in 2022, yielding just a 2.6% margin, saw some improvement in the first quarter, reaching a margin of 4.6%.

Its North America and Europe divisions saw returns of 11.6% and 8.8% respectively, in line with long-term targets.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)