Electrolux Q1 profit drops 50pc on materials costs

STOCKHOLM, April 27 (AFP): Swedish household goods manufacturer Electrolux reported a 50-per cent drop in net profit for the first quarter Wednesday, undershooting expectations and blaming a rise in raw materials costs. In the first three months of the year, net profit fell to 457 million kronor (51 million euros, $75 million) from 911 million kronor in the same period of last year. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a fall of 42.0 per cent. The price of shares in the company slipped by 0.18 per cent in early trading. The overall stock market here fell by 1.30 per cent. The company, the second-biggest manufacturer in its sector in the world after US group Whirlpool, said that it had not passed on the increased costs of raw materials and that it had also suffered from unfavourable exchange rates against the krona. Sales fell by 7.0 per cent to 23.4 billion kronor. Excluding the effect of exchange rates, sales rose by 0.9 per cent owing to strong sales in Central and South America and in the Asia-Pacific region. Sales of small devices were also strong.