By Marie Mannes
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -A jump in fourth-quarter orders at truckmaker Volvo boosted hopes on Wednesday for a less bleak 2025, sending its shares up as much as 6% despite profits missing expectations.
After record sales in 2023, truckmakers saw a slowdown last year that is widely expected to continue this year, with Europe tipped to be hit particularly hard.
But for October-December, Volvo said its order intake rose 24% to 61,200 trucks, with a 37% increase in Europe and a 26% rise in North America.
Citi analysts described the European orders as the “shining star” of the results.
“Orders are clearly better,” said Handelsbanken analyst Hampus Engellau. “We’re starting to see replacement-driven orders in Europe, so I think that bodes well for this year for those who have been worried about Europe.”
Volvo’s CEO Martin Lundstedt remained cautious, however, reiterating a 2025 market forecast from October for sales of 290,000 heavy trucks in Europe, and 300,000 in North America.
“When the market is coming back, there’s always a possibility of over-swing … We want to see a little bit how it is stabilising,” Lundstedt told Reuters.
PROFITS IMPACTED
Lower sales volumes, continued investments and extra costs in North America related to supply chain issues squeezed profit margins, the company said.
Volvo’s operating profit fell in the quarter to 14.04 billion Swedish crowns ($1.28 billion) from 16.98 billion crowns a year-earlier and below the 14.51 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG.
The North American costs were due to anticipated problems but the truckmaker was also affected when Hurricane Helene hit south eastern U.S. states where it has a large supply base.
Volvo proposed an ordinary dividend for 2024 of 8.00 crowns per share, up from 7.50 crowns for 2023, and an unchanged extra dividend of 10.50 crowns, roughly matching expectations.
The company is the first major European truckmaker to report fourth-quarter results. German rivals Traton and Daimler publish earnings reports in March. They both reported declining 2024 sales earlier this month.
($1 = 10.9777 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Marie Mannes. Editing by Jane Merriman and Mark Potter)
