MUNICH (dpa-AFX) – Volkswagen's commercial vehicle holding Traton outperformed expectations in terms of free cash flow during the past fiscal year. According to preliminary figures, net cash flow in the vehicle business – excluding financial services – amounted to €1.64 billion, exceeding the forecast range, the Volkswagen subsidiary announced Wednesday in Munich. This figure also beat analysts' expectations, according to the company, which owns the MAN, Scania, US-based International, and South American VW Truck & Bus brands. Traton shares, listed on the MDax, climbed in response.

The stock recently gained nearly seven percent to €31.48, recovering from declines over the previous two days. However, at its peak last year, the share was worth more than €38 before tariff turbulence in the United States caused truck manufacturers' shares to tumble. Daimler Truck, a competitor, also benefited midweek from the surge in Traton's stock, gaining more than three percent.

JPMorgan analyst Akshat Kacker wrote that Traton's improved cash flow performance was mainly due to better inventory and stock management. This may be partly because customers anticipated price increases in January and made purchases before the year-end. Traton itself cited improved management of working capital as well as lower capital expenditures at Scania and MAN.

Traton met its own targets for revenue and adjusted operating margin, according to the company. The adjusted operating margin stood at 6.3 percent. Traton's management had most recently projected the lower end of the 6 to 7 percent range. The margin was almost three percentage points higher in the previous year, at 9.2 percent. Currently, the sector is being weighed down by weakness in the North American market following import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, as well as the economic slowdown in Europe.

The previous day, Traton reported a sales decline of 8.6 percent to around 305,500 vehicles. According to the most recent guidance, revenue is expected to be up to 10 percent below the previous year's figure of €47.5 billion./men/jsl/mis