STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden’s Sandvik reported a larger-than-expected fall in third-quarter core profit on Monday, but orders jumped on strong demand for its mining equipment.
CEO Stefan Widing said in a statement that Sandvik had successfully mitigated the impact of tariffs through surcharges during the quarter, repeating a similar strategy from the previous three months. However, currency headwinds negatively affected its earnings margin, he added.
Shares in the company, often seen as a gauge of industrial demand given due to its broad customer base and short lead times for orders, were up 3.3% at 0956 GMT.
Operating profit before amortisation and items affecting comparability fell 6% in the July-September period from a year earlier to 5.54 billion Swedish crowns ($588.39 million) against a mean forecast of 5.77 billion in an LSEG poll of analysts.
Orders, however, grew 16% on an organic basis.
Sandvik said orders were stable so far in the fourth quarter at its Machining and Intelligent Manufacturing business, which makes up around 40% of group revenue.
($1 = 9.4155 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Greta Rosen Fondahn, editing by Stine Jacobsen, Kirsten Donovan)
