Electrolux Q1 profit lower than expected

Stockholm, April 26 (IANS) Profit of the Swedish home appliance maker Electrolux in the first quarter this year amounted to 565 million Swedish kronor ($84.8 million) before taxes, which was less than expected.

The profit had dropped if compared to the 712 million Swedish kronor in the same period of 2012, according to the Swedish daily SvD.

The turnover of the company in the first quarter of this year reached 25,328 million Swedish kronor, lower than the 25,875 million Swedish kronor a year earlier, reported Xinhua.

According to Electrolux, the drop in profit in the first quarter resulted from the "difficult situation in Europe" where the sales of home appliances such as vacuum cleaners had decreased.

"We think that the weak European market is going to be weaker. We don't believe that there would be any recovery in the first half of the year," said Keith McLoughlin, president and CEO of Electrolux.