Whirlpool Corporation announced that during the fourth-quarter 2017 net sales recorded 5.7 billion dollar, an increase of 1 percent compared to the same prior-year period. Excluding the impact of currency, sales decreased 1.6 percent.
For the full year, the Group’s net sales were 21.3 billion dollar compared to 20.7 billion dollar in 2016. Excluding the impact of currency, sales increased 1.5 percent.
«Our unique global strategic position, coupled with favorable macro-economic conditions, gives us strong confidence towards our long-term value creation goals – said Marc Bitzer, chief executive officer of Whirlpool Corporation. – The solid fourth-quarter exit run rates, and faster than anticipated progress on price/mix and fixed cost reduction, are very encouraging in that respect.»
The expectation for the current year are expressed by Jim Peters, chief financial officer of Whirlpool Corporation, who stated: « We are confident that our cost reduction initiatives and global price/mix will be a catalyst for significant margin improvements in the coming year. As a result, we expect to achieve our cash conversion goal and continue returning strong levels of cash to shareholders.»