Electrolux growth defies European slump

The Swedish homeware appliance giant Electrolux released worse than expected profit results on Friday, but said "organic growth" was strong despite pressure from the tough European sales climate.

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"In the fourth quarter, Electrolux posted a record-high organic growth of 7.5 percent," CEO Keith McLoughlin said in a statement.

The company made a profit of 1.6 billion kronor in the last quarter of 2012, somewhat lower than a prediction made by Reuters.

The American markets, he noted, account for half of the company's sales and were strong enough to make up for the dip in Europeans' willingness to buy new products.

"We stand by our view that the market situation in Europe is likely to get worse before it gets better and we are minimizing the negative effect by launching new products and eliminating costs," McLoughlin said.

The American markets today make up half of the company's sales, an increase from about 35 percent five years ago.

In the past year, Latin America in particular saw an upswing, with Electrolux's operations there increasing by 20 percent.

"The strong development was partly generated by government-tax incentives in Brazil, but also by an improved product mix, higher prices and market share gain," McLoughlin said.

The company is also expecting North America to pick up pace as long-ailing the housing market recovers.

"At the same time, we have increased our exposure to emerging markets, which now represent more than 35 percent of sales, and we expect this figure to reach 50 percent within five years," the CEO said.

TT/The Local/at
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