MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - Following a good third quarter, VW commercial vehicle holding company Traton expects better profit development in its current business for the full year. Operating profit adjusted for special effects is now expected to account for 7.5 to 8.5 percent of sales in 2023, the SDax-listed supplier of trucks and buses announced in Munich on Wednesday. Previously, only 7 to 8 percent was in CEO Christian Levin's plan. However, analysts had already expected more thanks to the good run so far and were already almost at the upper end of the old forecast range with their estimates. Traton is also becoming more optimistic about cash inflow (net cash flow) in day-to-day operations. The outlook for unit sales and sales remains unchanged.

In the first nine months, Traton and its MAN, Scania, Navistar and VW Truck & Bus (South America) brands sold 15 percent more, or 249,475 vehicles. Sales increased by one fifth to 34.2 billion euros. Operating profit adjusted for special items rose to 2.93 billion euros - more than double the previous year's figure. The corresponding margin was 8.6 percent, above the new target range for the full year. However, there were declines in order intake due to a "normalization" of demand, particularly in Europe - orders fell by a good quarter to 189,611 vehicles. In North America, according to the company, new orders were only accepted to a limited extent due to the very high order backlog./men/stk