Mercedes car profits help offset Q3 trucks slump at Daimler

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler's third-quarter operating profit rose as higher earnings from passenger cars offset falling demand for trucks, helping the group to keep to its guidance for a small increase in full-year profit. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), adjusted for special items, climbed to 4.01 billion euros ($4.37 billion) in the three months through September, above the 3.8 billion euros forecast in a Reuters poll. According to Lang & Schwarz, Daimler shares were set to open 0.4 percent higher, among the top gainers on Germany's blue-chip DAX index. The Stuttgart-based company said the return on sales at Mercedes-Benz Cars rose to 11.4 percent, from 10.4 percent in the year-earlier period, thanks to sales of the new E-class and demand for sports utility vehicles. The EBIT of the Mercedes-Benz Cars division rose 23 percent, helped by an 11 percent rise in car sales that was driven by demand for sports utility vehicles and the new E-Class. However, Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses could not match the prior-year quarter's earnings, in part due to a sharp fall in demand in key markets like Brazil. Daimler nonetheless stuck with its forecast for adjusted full-year group EBIT to slightly beat 2015 levels. ($1 = 0.9173 euros) (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Maria Sheahan)