Swedish manufacturer SKF reported sales in its third quarter 2009 were down 13.4% in SEK; for the first nine months, sales fell 10%. Most of the decrease was due to volume. Profit was down by nearly half.
Tom Johnstone, President and CEO said: “Against the backdrop of significantly lower sales and manufacturing in the quarter the group delivered a good result and once again a very strong cash flow. Restructuring and cost reduction efforts already launched combined with short-time working are providing good results. During the third quarter our sales and manufacturing were positively impacted by the good development of our automotive business driven primarily by the government incentives for the car industry.
"Our industrial business continued to weaken. For the fourth quarter we see a slight sequential improvement in our business, but year-on-year it will still be significantly down. The possible negative impact of the ending of certain incentive programs for the car industry is difficult to forecast and may affect demand during the quarter. Our efforts to further reduce costs in our operations are continuing.”
Outlook: Fourth Quarter 2009
According to the press release, the demand for SKF products and services is expected to be significantly lower for the group overall and in Europe and North America. In Asia it is expected to be unchanged and in Latin America slightly higher. It is expected to be unchanged for the Automotive Division but significantly lower for the Industrial Division and Service Division.
