By Christina Zander
STOCKHOLM--Swedish home appliance maker Electrolux said
Wednesday it swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter following
a strong improvement in operating income for its Major Appliances
business in Europe, Latin America and Asia.
The global company said net profit for the three months ended
Dec. 31 totaled 970 million Swedish kronor ($3.8 billion), compared
with a net loss of 987.00 million kronor in the same period a year
earlier. Analysts polled by financial information company SIX had
on average expected a net profit of just 467.75 million kronor.
The strong result comes as Electrolux prepares to integrate
General Electric Co.'s appliances business which it agreed to buy
last year in a $3.3 billion move that will almost double the
company's U.S. footprint and put Electrolux on a par with the
U.S.'s largest appliance maker Whirlpool.
Sales in the fourth quarter totaled 31.4 billion kronor, up 9%
from 28.89 billion kronor a year earlier. Operating profit came to
1.40 billion kronor, compared with an operating loss of 1.2 billion
kronor.
Write to Christina Zander at christina.zander@wsj.com
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