SKF Nine-month report 2009

SKF Nine-month report 2009 

Tom Johnstone, President and CEO:
“Against the backdrop of significantly lower sales and manufacturing in the
quarter the Group delivered a good result and once again a very strong cash
flow. Restructuring and cost reduction efforts already launched combined with
short-time working are providing good results. During the third quarter our
sales and manufacturing were positively impacted by the good development of our
automotive business driven primarily by the government incentives for the car
industry. Our industrial business continued to weaken. 
For the fourth quarter we see a slight sequential improvement in our business,
but year on year it will still be significantly down. The possible negative
impact of the ending of certain incentive programmes for the car industry is
difficult to forecast and may affect demand during the quarter. Our efforts to
further reduce costs in our operations are continuing.”

	Q3	Q3	YTD	YTD
	2009	2008	2009	2008
Net sales, SEKm	13,324	15,381	42,340	47,054
Operating profit, SEKm	957	2,085	2,199	6,260
Operating margin, %	7.2	13.6	5.2	13.3
Operating margin excl. restructuring, %	8.7	13.6	7.3	13.3
Profit before taxes, SEKm	689	1,859	1,532	5,761
Net profit, SEKm	483	1,257	1,200	3,922
Basic earnings per share, SEK	1.01	2.67	2.56	8.39

The decrease of 13.4% in net sales for the quarter, in SEK, was attributable to:
volume -24.9%, structure 1.2%, price/mix 3.7% and currency effects 6.6%.
For the first nine months, the decrease of 10.0%, in SEK, was attributable to:
volume -27.6%, structure 1.3%, price/mix 5.5% and currency effects 10.8%.

The quarter included expenses for restructuring activities of around SEK 200
million, of which around SEK 175 million refer to programmes announced in the
second quarter. For the nine months the expenses amount to around SEK 875
million. Non-cash items in the quarter were around SEK 70 million, for the nine
months they were around SEK 135 million.  

Cash flow, after investments and before financing, was SEK 1,359 million (-526)
for the third quarter and SEK 4,307 million (215) for the first nine month 2009.
The cash flow includes payments for acquisitions and non-controlling interests
of SEK 16 million for the quarter and SEK 239 million for the first nine months.


Outlook for the fourth quarter of 2009
Sales development compared to fourth quarter last year
The demand for SKF products and services is expected to be significantly lower
for the Group in total and in Europe and North America. In Asia it is expected
to be unchanged and in Latin America slightly higher. It is expected to be
unchanged for the Automotive Division but significantly lower for the Industrial
Division and Service Division. 
Sales development compared to the third quarter this year
The demand is expected to be slightly higher for the SKF Group in total. It is
expected to be relatively unchanged in Europe and North America and slightly
higher in Asia and Latin America. It is expected to be relatively unchanged for
the Automotive Division and slightly higher for both the Service Division and
the Industrial Division. 
Manufacturing level
The manufacturing level will be significantly lower year on year and slightly
higher compared to the third quarter.

Göteborg, 19 October 2009 

Aktiebolaget SKF
(publ.)


Tom Johnstone	
President and CEO



AB SKF may be required to disclose the information provided herein according to
the Securities Markets Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The
information was submitted for publication at 08.00 (CEST) on 20 October 2009.


Further information can be obtained from:
Ingalill Östman, Group Communication
tel: +46-31-3373260, mobile: +46-706-973260, e-mail: ingalill.ostman@skf.com 
Marita Björk, Investor Relations
tel: +46-31-3371994, mobile: +46-705-181994, e-mail: marita.bjork@skf.com