STOCKHOLM, Oct. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Highlights of the third quarter of 2018
President and CEO Jonas Samuelson's comment
Our strategic focus on innovation improving consumers' experience, together with high agility in today's more challenging cost environment, are great competitive assets and I am very pleased to see that we are continuing to improve the product mix. Mix improvements together with cost-based price increases contributed step-by-step to the development in the quarter. Organic growth was 0.8% while the operating margin contracted to 5.8%, as we were not yet able to fully offset the negative impact from higher raw material costs, currency headwinds and lower volumes.
EMEA's performance was once again strong and I am pleased to see consumer-experienced innovation resulting in market share gains under our premium brands. Our North American and Latin American operations implemented cost-based price increases, but also saw volumes declining. In addition to higher raw material costs, North America faced higher cost inflation from tariffs and also lower private label sales, while the currency headwind accelerated for Latin America. Asia Pacific increased its sales in Southeast Asia but was impacted negatively by the softer Australian market. Home Care & SDA is still in a product transition phase with lower sales volumes as a consequence. Professional Products' earnings remained solid and it is encouraging to see good growth across all segments, including the new beverage segment.
Additional trade actions under Section 301 in the U.S. were announced in the quarter. We now estimate the negative year-over-year impact from raw materials, tariffs and currency to be approximately SEK 3bn in 2018, compared to the previous estimate of approximately SEK 2.7bn. Looking into 2019, based on current market conditions, these combined headwinds could continue with a similar year-over-year impact as in 2018. A significant portion of these effects are offset by already implemented and announced price increases. Further price increases will be implemented to mitigate cost inflation.
With one quarter remaining in 2018, we have improved visibility and revise our market outlook for 2018 to more narrow ranges. The UK is still largely impacted by Brexit and hence the European market is expected to grow by approximately 1% in 2018. Current macro trends indicate slightly softer market demand for Australia.
Our focus on creating best-in-class consumer experiences is vital to drive profitable growth. I am therefore very pleased that we launched a number of new products with relevant consumer benefits in the quarter; EMEA introduced a new range of induction hobs designed to enhance the consumer's cooking experience. Home Care & SDA strengthened its floor care offering with a ground-breaking cordless vacuum cleaner that can fully replace its corded counterpart. Professional Products presented a new laundry line, based on new product architecture, using cutting-edge innovations and connectivity solutions to maximize uptime and best-in-class energy savings.
In October, we acquired SPM Drink Systems, thereby expanding Professional Products' current beverage offering, which is important in order to become a full-service solution provider. Home Care & SDA has now completed its product portfolio review after divesting its North American commercial and central vacuum cleaner businesses.
I am confident that we are well positioned with the right business focus in this challenging cost environment to continue delivering shareholder value.
Telephone conference 09.00 CET
A telephone conference is held at 09.00 CET today, October 26. The conference will be chaired by Jonas Samuelson, President and CEO of Electrolux. Mr. Samuelson will be accompanied by Therese Friberg, CFO.
Details for participation by telephone are as follows:
Participants in Sweden should call +46-8-566-426-91
Participants in UK/Europe should call +44-203-008-9811
Participants in US should call +1-855-831-5945
Slide presentation for download:
Link to webcast:
www.electroluxgroup.com/q3-2018
For further information, please contact:
Sophie Arnius,
Head of Investor Relations
+46-70-590-80-72
Merton Kaplan,
IR Manager,
+46-73-885-78-03
Arba Kokalari,
Electrolux Press Hotline,
+46-8-657-65-07
This is information that AB Electrolux is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 0800 CET on October 26, 2018.
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
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