Truck-maker Scania has reported a 75% rise in its third quarter net profit amid strong demand in Europe.
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“The demand for trucks continued to rise in practically all markets in western Europe. This demand is driven by a continued replacement need, combined with substantial exports of used vehicles to central and eastern Europe,” chief executive Leif Oestling said in a statement cited by Agence France-Presse.
The Swedish group posted a net profit of 868 million kronor (€96.1 million, $US122.2 million) in the third quarter, compared to 495 million kronor in the same period a year ago. Operating profit rose by 49.7% to 1.35 billion kronor, while earnings per share jumped to 4.34 kronor from 2.48 kronor a year earlier.
Sales during the period increased by 15.2% to 13.3 billion kronor, and pre-tax profit grew by 67%, from 765 million kronor to 1.35 billion, far higher than analysts’ forecasts of 874 million kronor, AFP noted.
For the nine months to September, net profit rose by 30% to 2.76 billion kronor and operating profit rose by 25% to 4.0 billion kronor. Sales rose by 11% to 40.5 billion kronor.
“The global market for heavy trucks is still expanding quite a lot,” Anders Trapp, truck analyst at Enskilda Securities, recently told AFX, AFP’s financial news subsidiary.
“Volvo in their third quarter report showed an 11% increase in truck volumes in Europe, 60% in Latin America, and 36% in Asia. So there’s strong demand in the market right now.”
Of the new trucks registered in western Europe in the first nine months of the year, Scania said it held a 12.9% market share, representing 22,298 vehicles.
In Brazil, the group’s largest market, new registrations rose from 2,907 to 4,407 in the nine-month period. In Britain, Scania’s second-largest market, registrations fell by 14% to 4,192, in Germany they rose by 10% to 2,804 and in France they fell by 13% to 2,674, Agence France-Presse said.
