Daimler cuts dividend as Mercedes earnings take a hit from tariffs, diesel — autoblog.com

STUTTGART — Daimler cut its dividend, and its fourth-quarter operating profit fell 22 percent as trade wars and rising costs for developing electric and self-driving cars hit profits at Mercedes-Benz cars, the company said on Wednesday. Daimler said the return on sales at Mercedes-Benz cars fell to 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter from 9.5 percent in the year-earlier period. This, combined with a cut in the dividend from 3.65 euros a share to 3.25 euros, disappointed analysts and sent shares 2 percent lower to 52.02 euros, underperforming Germany's blue-chip DAX index which was trading 0.22 percent lower.

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