STUTTGART (dpa-AFX) - The car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz will publish its business figures for the past year on Thursday (7.30 a.m.). Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius and CFO Harald Wilhelm will also provide an outlook for the current financial year and answer questions from analysts and media representatives. In the third quarter of 2023, the Stuttgart-based company was unable to repeat the strong figures of the previous year due to the economic downturn and recorded declines in sales and earnings. Vehicle sales also fell in the second half of the year. Overall, however, Mercedes still recorded a slight increase in sales in 2023. Last year, the DAX-listed company sold 2.49 million vehicles, 1.5 percent more than in the previous year. In terms of turnover and operating result (EBIT) for the 2023 financial year, the company recently forecast figures at the previous year's level./rwi/DP/zb