Ball bearing manufacturer SKF reports an operating profit of just over SEK 2.6 billion for the first quarter of this year, according to its interim report. In the same quarter last year, profit was SEK 2.9 billion.
Analysts had expected an average profit of SEK 2.7 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Net sales fell to SEK 21.9 billion, down from SEK 24 billion in the first quarter last year.
Sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa decreased by 1.1 percent year-on-year. Sales increased in other regions.
"Geopolitical unrest, including the conflict in the Middle East, is reinforcing general uncertainty," writes CEO Rickard Gustafson in the report.
Gustafson predicts that demand going forward will remain at "similar levels" to those in the first three months of the year.
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