World number two truck maker Volvo posted a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss today, hit by restructuring costs and writedowns, but said it saw its main markets returning to growth this year.
The company reported an operating loss of 2.3 billion Swedish crowns (€227 million) versus a loss of 999 million (€98.5 million) a year ago and a loss of 519 million (€51.2 million) seen in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Volvo said the fourth-quarter results were hit by 1.4 billion (€138 million) crowns of costs for restructuring and lay-offs as well as writedowns of inventory.
The global financial crisis slammed the heavy-duty truck markets with full force in late 2008, ending years of easy credit for funding purchases of new vehicles and plunging major economies across the world into a tailspin.
Signs of stabilisation from the steepest downturn in decades have firmed in recent months as government and central bank stimulus has helped economies limp out of recession, but a solid recovery in the cyclical truck market still looks distant.
Volvo, which makes heavy-duty trucks under the Renault, Mack, UD Trucks and Eicher brands, said it expected the European market to grow about 10 per cent this year while the North American market expanded around 20-30 per cent.
"Our current assessment, which is in line with the rest of the industry, is that both the European and US markets for heavy trucks will start off weak and gradually improve during the year," the company said in a statement.
On Wednesday, rival truckmaker Scania AB said it limited the decline in its fourth-quarter pretax profit with the help of cost cuts and a stabilising truck market.
Reuters