Automotive concern DaimlerChrysler said Thursday it boosted its net income in 2004 to 2.5 billion euros (3.2 billion dollars), compared with just 400 million euros the year before, but warned that profit growth this year would be slower. Operating profits, at 5.8 billion euros, were up from the 2003 figure of 5.1 billion euros. Revenues, at 142.1 billion euros, were 4 per cent higher, while vehicle sales increased 8 per cent to 4.7 million, DaimlerChrysler said. The company said it was proposing a 1.5 euros dividend, unchanged from last year's payout. DaimlerChrysler said its earnings increase in 2004 resulted from stronger performance by the Chrysler Group and Commercial Vehicles divisions. But the Mercedes division's earnings "decreased sharply", the company said, while profits were also hurt by charges from Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and from the highway truck toll consortium Toll Collect. DaimlerChrysler said it its bracing for a "weaker first and second quarter" in 2005, so that the full-year operating profit will be only slightly higher than those last year. The company said it expected "significant earnings improvements" in 2006, when the Mercedes Car Group's product offensive takes effect and Chrysler adds new models to the markets. But it also cautioned that it faced challenges from the weak U.S. dollar and high raw materials prices. --SP 1308 Local Time 1008 GMT
