May 3 (Reuters) - Germany's Daimler Truck AG posted first-quarter core profit of 1.21 billion euros ($1.30 billion) on Friday, beating the consensus estimate of 1.17 billion euros in a company poll, driven by a strong performance of its Trucks North America business.
First-quarter core profit (adjusted earnings before interest and taxes) at Daimler Truck's North American business rose 7% year-on-year in the first quarter compared to 4% across Daimler Truck as a whole.
Orders were normalising across all regions after a bumper 2023, the maker of yellow Thomas Built school buses said, but order intake at Trucks North America grew almost 30% in the quarter on the same time last year.
Better pricing helped the result across the group, it added, compensating for lower unit sales.
Truckmakers are aiming to boost margins as demand slows following the release of pent-up pandemic demand last year. Price rises helped Volkswagen's truck-making unit Traton beat expectations during the first quarter, with price hikes at Volvo also partially offsetting an almost 20% fall in order intake.
Core profit at Daimler Truck's Mercedes-Benz business, which focuses on Europe, fell 4% on this time last year with the figure falling 39% for the Trucks Asia segment.
Daimler Truck last year made almost 45% of its sales in North America and about a third in Europe.
The maker of Freightliner and Western Star trucks reiterated its guidance for the year.
($1 = 0.9317 euros)
Additional Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach, Editing by Miranda Murray
Source: Reuters