Mercedes-Benz luxury cars fuel fat profits at Daimler

FILE - In this Jan 28, 2015 file picture an employee attaches a Mercedes emblem as he assembles a Mercedes-Benz S-class model at the plant in Sindelfingen, Germany. The company will have the annual press conference on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2016 file photo a Daimler logo is fixed at the front of a concept car on the occasion of the company's annual press conference in Stuttgart, Germany. German car, truck and bus maker Daimler AG will have the annual press conference Thursday Feb. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, file) (The Associated Press)

FRANKFURT, Germany – German automaker Daimler AG says fourth-quarter net profit rose 18 percent as the company's flagship Mercedes-Benz brand reaped fat returns on new SUV models.

Net profit hit 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion), up from 1.9 billion in the year-ago quarter. Group revenue rose 1 percent to 41 billion euros.

Booming profits at Mercedes-Benz outweighed losses at the company's truck business, which lost sales in Turkey and the Middle East. Operating earnings at the luxury brand rose 53 percent to 2.56 billion.

For the full year, Daimler made 8.7 billion euros net profit, up slightly from 2015.

The company said its profits from the full year meant it could pay up to $5,400 in profit-sharing bonuses to 130,000 eligible workers in Germany. They'll get the money in their April paychecks.