STOCKHOLM, April 28 (Reuters) – Scania’s <SCVb.ST> order
bookings surged 166 percent from crisis levels hit last year in
the first quarter and the truck maker said on Wednesday the
firmer demand was seen continuing in the coming months.

Scania, majority-owned by German autos group Volkswagen AG
<VOWG.DE>, had previously published strong headline numbers for
its first quarter, when booming demand in Brazil had lifted
earnings well above market expectations. [ID:nLDE63C1KH]

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Electrolux, the world No.2 home appliance maker, said on Tuesday that improving demand in 2010 could bring it close to its long-term profitability target, as quarterly earnings topped expectations.

The economic downturn after the financial crisis savaged demand for appliance makers across the world. But a budding recovery in recent months has helped firm-up consumer spending, not least in emerging markets.

STOCKHOLM, April 27 (Reuters) – Garden and construction tool
maker Husqvarna AB <HUSQb.ST> forecast flat sales year-on-year
in the second quarter as lingering market uncertainty and
retailer caution held back growth.

Demand for gardening products was pummelled by the economic
downturn last year and retailers on both sides of the Atlantic
have been careful about scaling up inventories amid lingering
doubts over the strength of the recovery in consumer spending.

STOCKHOLM, April 27 (Reuters) – Electrolux <ELUXb.ST>, the
world’s second biggest home appliances maker, forecast stronger
demand throughout 2010, leaving its margin goal in reach, as it
posted a bigger-than-expected rise in first-quarter profit.

The economic downturn on the heels of the financial crisis
savaged demand for appliance makers across the world, but in
recent months a budding recovery has helped firm up consumer
spending, not least in emerging markets.

STOCKHOLM, April 26 (Reuters) – Swedish engineering group
Alfa Laval <ALFA.ST> said demand would remain flat in the coming
months after it posted a slightly smaller-than-expected fall in
first-quarter core earnings.

Market demand for the products of engineering firms headed
into a nose-dive as the global financial crisis struck in 2008,
snuffing out years of easy credit and sending economies around
the world into recession.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – World No.2 truck maker Volvo <VOLVb.ST> surprised the market with its cost cuts lifting it to a much bigger-than-expected first-quarter profit, snuffing out any lingering worries that it might need to raise cash.

Volvo’s results for the three months to March sent shares up 10.5 percent to 90.30 crowns by 0740 GMT, easily outshining a 1.2 percent gain in the DJ Stoxx autos sector <.SXAP> as well as a 1 percent rise in the Stockholm bourse’s blue chip index <.OMXS30>.

STOCKHOLM, April 23 (Reuters) – World No.2 truck maker Volvo
<VOLVb.ST> stood by its forecast of a gradual recovery in its
main markets this year after it swung to a much
bigger-than-expected first-quarter profit, buoyed by cost cuts.

The highly cyclical heavy-duty truck market has stabilised
in recent quarters amid a broader economic recovery, with demand
showing signs of coming off the unprecedented lows hit a year
ago, especially in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America

STOCKHOLM, April 21 (Reuters) – Assa Abloy <ASSAb.ST>, the
world’s top lock maker, stuck to a sombre 2010 outlook of no
growth excluding takeovers, sending its shares down despite
slightly stronger-than-expected first-quarter profit.

Several of its peers in the Swedish engineering sector have
rushed out unexpectedly strong first-quarter earnings in recent
weeks, fuelling hopes for further positive surprises in the
sector, and Assa Abloy shares fell after the result.