Gardening tools maker Husqvarna's Q4 boosted by stay-at-home trend (updated)
03/02/2021 07:22
* Q4 is Husqvarna's seasonally slowest
* Sales grew 4% in the traditionally slow quarter
* Stay-at-home trend boosted sales
* Proposes raised dividend of 2.40 SEK
*
(Adds detail, background)
STOCKHOLM, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Husqvarna HUSQb.ST , the
world's biggest maker of gardening power tools, reported on
Wednesday a slightly smaller than expected loss for its
seasonally slowest quarter and said the stay-at-home trend
boosted sales.
The Swedish group said operating losses grew to 944 million
crowns ($113 million), including 815 million in one-off costs
for supply chain efficiency measures, from a year-earlier 493
million. Four analysts polled by Refinitiv had on average
forecast a loss of 986 million crowns. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2K716V
Sales grew 4% as people stayed more at home due to the
pandemic and spent more money on their homes, extending the
gardening season.
"The growth was largely driven by our core categories
robotics and battery-powered products, handheld products and
watering solutions and supported by a prolonged season,"
Chief Executive Henric Andersson said in a statement.
Husqvarna, the world's biggest maker of robotic lawn mowers,
garden watering systems and garden tractors does the bulk of its
business towards the end of the first quarter and in the second
- ahead of and during the peak gardening season in the northern
hemisphere.
The rival to Black & Decker SWK.N , Honda Motor 7267.T
and Fiskars FSKRS.HE proposed a dividend of 2.40 crowns per
share for 2020, up from 2.25 crowns for 2019.
($1 = 8.3943 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Johannes Hellstrom and
Simon Johnson)
((anna.ringstrom@thomsonreuters.com; +46 8 502 423 74; Reuters
Messaging: anna.ringstrom.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))