German carmaker Daimler, which lifted operating profit in the second quarter, on Wednesday forecast a gain in earnings in the second half of the year as a key new Mercedes model arrives on the market.

The company had a strong second quarter, thanks to selling its shares in the aerospace and defence group EADS, but that was “no cause for complacency,” Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said.

The Daimler stock jumped higher on the news before slipping back to trade at 52.05 euros in Frankfurt late in the morning, down 1 per cent from Tuesday’s close.

Over the past month the stock has risen by nearly a quarter amid signs that the car company is shaking off a long run of dull earnings.

Figures released earlier this month showed the Stuttgart-based company had earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) during the three months to the end of June of 5.2 billion euros ($6.8 billion), up 131 per cent from a year previously.

However 3.2 billion euros of that was a windfall from the sale of Daimler’s remaining EADS shares rather than from the long-term business of selling cars and trucks.

Mercedes unveiled in May a makeover of its top-of-the-range S-Class cars and says it will be working harder to market its compact cars to younger buyers. It has also upgraded its Mercedes-Benz truck range in Europe with lower exhaust emissions.

“We can assume that our earnings in the second half of 2013 will be significantly better than in the first six months,” Zetsche said.

However, the full-year EBIT is likely to come in below that for 2012.

Zetsche said Daimler aimed to grow its operating earnings next year.

The new S-Class, a premium car loaded with driving assistance features and other luxuries, is to go on sale in the autumn in China and the US, the company’s two main export markets.

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