SKF sales decline by 7%
Bearings manufacturer SKF reported that its fourth-quarter sales of nearly 15 billion kronor ($2.6 billion) declined by about 7% compared to last year.
The company reduced manufacturing to offset weaker demand in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Sales in North America increased by 2%.
Net income fell to 983 million kronor ($154.6 million) from 1.17 billion kronor a year earlier, the company said in a statement today.
"The overall macro environment is difficult to read with still a lot of uncertainty. However, at this point we expect demand in the first quarter for the Group to continue at the same level as the fourth quarter but still lower year over year. We plan to run our manufacturing broadly in line with sales in the quarter,” said president and CEO Tom Johnstone.
For 2013, demand for SKF’s products and services is expected to be significantly lower in Europe and slightly lower in Asia, while the company anticipates that demand in North America and Latin America will remain relatively unchanged.
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