Swedish bearings firm SKF reports profits jump

Swedish ball-bearings giant SKF on Friday report a hike in second-quarter profit, aided by an improving automotive market.

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The company, the world's biggest maker of industrial bearings, posted a profit of 1.71 billion Swedish kronor ($262 million) for the April-June quarter.

For the same period in 2010, it made a net profit of 1.41 billion kronor.

The results were slightly below analyst expectations, which SKF blamed on unfavourable foreign exchange and rising costs.

"We will continue to invest in our business and take the necessary steps to offset the high raw material costs and currency headwinds," chief executive Tom Johnstone said.

The announcement sent shares in the Gothenburg-based company down by 4.9 percent to 174.10 kronor on a Stockholm Stock Exchange which was showing a fall of 1.0 percent.

SKF said it expected demand to increase in the third quarter, especially in Asia and South America.

SKF, which also makes sealants, is an important supplier to many parts of the industrial processing chain and is therefore regarded as a leading indicator of activity in manufacturing and machine tooling.