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BERLIN, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The finance chief of Germany's MAN said on Tuesday there had been no real improvement in its third-quarter business, sending shares in the trucks and engineering group lower.
"So far, we have seen no real pick up in business (in the third quarter)," Chief Financial Officer Ferdinand Graf von Ballestrem told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Berlin.
MAN shares, which had been flat earlier in the session, fell two percent to stand at 20.45 euros by 0739 GMT, underperforming a slight rise on the pan-European DJ Stoxx Autos index .
However von Ballestrem said MAN, which is suffering from weak markets for trucks and printing machinery, stood by its full-year targets.
"We are confident of reaching our goals in 2003 in new orders and sales," he said. The firm has said it expects these to be on a par with 2002.
"Overall for the year, we are confident that we will meet our goals and post a slight profit rise," he added, reiterating expectations for higher profits this year.
The firm is counting on its core commercials vehicles business, which accounts for around 40 percent of sales and returned to profit in 2002 after a two-year overhaul, to drive growth this year.
MAN posted pre-tax earnings of 219 million euros ($246.9 million) in 2002.