Daimler-Chrysler Profit Plunge

    Now profits at the German and the US Daimler-Chrysler dropped sharply last year. The group shocked the market by announcing a 49 percent fall in operating profits to $4.8 billion. Last week it announced the restructuring of its Chrysler operations following a downturn in its US business.

    Daimler-Chrysler’sproblems lie with its US car making operations, where losses are mounting. Investors are waiting for details of a restructuring program expected at the end of this month. But the group has already said that it will slash 20 percent of jobs at Chrysler and scale back the cost of materials by 15 percent over two years. Today’sresults show yearly operating profits have halved at the group as a whole. But there were no separate details of the plight of the Chrysler division. However, back in December a letter to shareholders suggested fourth quarter losses there would double from the previous three months to $1.2 billion.

    There’s speculation that shareholders are growing more and more frustrated with Daimler-Chrysler management. Two days ago, the Amir of Kuwait, whose country is the second biggest shareholder, received a visit from the group’schief executive Jurgen Schrempp. Analysts say the Kuwaitis have seen their stake half in value since 1998. Like other investors, they will want to know detailed plans for how the spiraling losses at Chrysler can be stemmed.

Lesley Carwen, BBC News
 

参考译文：

    戴姆勒-克莱斯勒去年在德国和美国的利润急剧下降。该公司在对外公布的去年利润下降百分之四十九至四十八亿美元后，股市受到了打击。鉴于其在美国业务呈下降趋势，上星期，戴姆勒-克莱斯勒公司宣布会对其在美国的克莱斯勒分部进行重组。

    美国汽车制造业务不断上升的亏损是戴姆勒-克莱斯勒公司的问题所在。投资者都在急切等待着将在这个月底公布的重组计划细节，但公司已经宣布将在未来的两年里减少百分之二十的人员和降低百分之十五的原材料成本。今天公布的结果表明，整个公司的营运利润减少了一半，但公司没有对克莱斯勒分部的状况作详细说明。不过，在去年十二月份，该公司的股东都收到了一封信，里面提到第四季度的亏损额将会是第三季度亏损额的两倍，高达十二亿美元。

    有猜测说股东对戴姆勒-克莱斯勒的管理层越来越感到失望。两天前，科威特亲王接待了戴姆勒-克莱斯勒的首席执行官于尔根·施伦普。科威特是该公司的第二大股东，分析家说，科威特在该公司的股票价值自一九九八年以来下降一半，科威特人也像其它所有的投资者一样，想知道在克莱斯勒不断亏损后的重组计划细节。

    英国广播公司记者莱斯利·卡万