Daimler Loses $478 Mln. in 4Q

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Daimler AG said Thursday that it lost $478 million (352 million euros) in the fourth quarter and that it plans to cancel its annual dividend, Bloomberg reported.

The loss compares with a $2.08 billion (1.53 billion-euro) loss a year earlier, the German truck maker said.

Sales in the quarter fell 11% to $28.9 billion (21.3 billion euros).

For the full year, Daimler lost $3.58 billion (2.64 billion euros), compared with a profit of $1.91 billion (1.41 billion euros) the previous year, Bloomberg said.

Sales in the year fell to $107 billion (78.9 billion euros), from $133.6 billion (98.5 billion euros) in 2008.

Daimler says it expects sales in 2010 to climb from the 2009 level, but still fall below 2008's figures, Bloomberg said.