Daimler: Q2 profits boosted by EADS sale

German automaker Daimler said Wednesday that its profits rose strongly in the second quarter, propelled by one-off gains from the sale of its stake in aerospace giant EADS. Daimler said in its interim report that net profit doubled to 2.834 billion euros ($3.7 billion) in the period from April to June from 1.477 billion euros a year earlier. As already reported earlier this month, underlying or operating profit, as measured by earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), amounted to 5.242 billion euros compared with 2.268 billion euros a year earlier. And revenues rose by 2.8 percent to 29.692 billion euros. Daimler said the second-quarter figures "were boosted by a gain totalling 3.2 billion euros related to the remeasurement and to the sale of the remaining EADS shares." "As we previously announced, our earnings in the second quarter improved significantly compared with the first three months of the year and exceeded market expectations," said chief executive Dieter Zetsche. "This represents progress in our earnings development, but no cause for complacency. We will continue to work hard on achieving our goals," Zetsche said. On July 12, Daimler had said it was sticking to its full-year profit forecasts.