Electrolux operating income for the first quarter increased to 1,536 million Sek, an improvement of 21% compared to the same period last year. The operating margin increased to 5.3% from 4.5% and results improved across all business areas. The company operations in Major Appliances EMEA and North America delivered good profitability and Professional Products also reported a good earnings trend. The performance for Major Appliances Latin America and Home Care & SDA recovered during the quarter. Major Appliances EMEA achieved an operating margin of 6.3%. The acquisition of Kwikot Group, a profitable water heater company in South Africa, was completed during the quarter. In North America, operating income continued to develop favorably and the operating margin for the first quarter increased to 6.1% from 5.0% last year. Market demand for core appliances in the first quarter of 2017 remained solid and grew by slightly less than 3%. Electrolux expects market demand for appliances in North America to grow by 2-3% in 2017.
«The work to restore profitability in Home Care & Small Domestic Appliances – explained Jonas Samuelson, Electrolux president and CEO – is making good progress with continued focus on mix improvements and exiting non-profitable categories and markets. In April we completed the acquisition of Anova, the U.S. based provider of the Anova Precision Cooker, an innovative connected device for sous vide cooking that enables restaurant-quality results in the home. The acquisition provides a significant opportunity for profitable growth in this emerging product category.»
