What we see now, what we know now, can change tomorrow depending on what statements come from the White House. But our best guess right now is that for the second quarter, we see continued relatively weak demand and we expect to also report a negative organic growth in the second quarter, he says to TT about the outlook ahead.
SKF, with its regionalized organization, is well prepared to handle the direct effects of the trade war between the US and China, according to Gustafson.
The flows between, for example, China and the US are relatively limited for us. And it's something we're actively working to further minimize, he says.
"There is great uncertainty"
But the indirect effects of tariffs and trade barriers – such as reduced demand – also affect SKF.
We see that our order book in Europe has had a positive development over several months and that the activity level – i.e. the number of inquiries from customers – is increasing. But the tariffs are putting a wet blanket over everything. Many companies are waiting and seeing. There is great uncertainty, he says.
The first quarter of 2025 is the seventh in a row where SKF notes that organic growth – i.e. if you remove comparative distortions and acquisitions – is negative. So, there is also a preparedness and habit at the company to continuously handle headwinds, according to Gustafson.
"A really strong result"
And in the first quarter, SKF managed to lift its adjusted profit margins despite declining demand, he notes.
The adjusted margin of 13.5 percent is actually slightly better than the same quarter last year. And if you go a bit deeper and look at our large industrial business, I think it's a really strong result, 16.9 percent in adjusted operating margin. It's significantly better than the same quarter last year.
Joakim Goksör/TT
Facts: Better profit than expected from SKF
TT
SKF reports an adjusted profit before tax of 3.2 billion kronor for the first quarter of the year. During the same quarter last year, the profit was 3.3 billion.
Analysts had on average expected the adjusted profit to be pressed down to 3.1 billion according to Bloomberg.
Net sales fell to 24.0 billion, which can be compared to 24.7 billion kronor during the first quarter last year. This was a slightly larger sales decline than expected.
Organic sales decreased by 3.5 percent compared to a year earlier – the seventh quarter in a row with a decline in organic growth for the company.
