STOCKHOLM, March 24 (Reuters) – Volvo AB <VOLVb.ST> said
shipments rose in February, its first month of year-on-year
growth since before the global financial crisis, as firmer
demand in Asia helped offset lingering weakness on both sides of
the Atlantic.

Volvo, the world’s No.2 truckmaker, said unit shipments
rose 11 percent, the first year-on-year increase since August
2008, while shipments were up 27 percent compared with January.

STOCKHOLM, March 22 (Reuters) – Autoliv <ALIVsdb.ST>
<ALV.N>, the world’s top maker of airbags and seatbelts, hiked
its outlook for first-quarter sales and profit on the back of
strength in Asia and North America, sending its shares up.

The Swedish company said in a statement it expected net
sales in the first quarter to rise about 85 percent from a
dismal year-ago period, while its operating margin would climb
to “at least” 11 percent.

STOCKHOLM, March 16 (Reuters) – Truck maker Scania AB
<SCVb.ST> will raise production and bring back staff to
full-time work to cater to a recovery in demand from the deepest
market downturn in decades, it said on Tuesday.

Scania, majority-owned by German auto group Volkswagen AG
<VOWG.DE>, said in a statement workers in many of its factories
would return to a five-day working week in April after having
worked four-day weeks during the downturn.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Iceland’s finance minister said on Friday there was no point in restarting failed talks with Britain and the Netherlands on the country’s huge “Icesave” debts for now, and a referendum looked likely to go ahead.

Steingrimur Sigfusson said Iceland was committed to repay the more than $5 billion that Britain and the Netherlands spent compensating savers who lost money in Iceland’s banking collapse and that the main sticking point in recent discussions had been interest payments.

STOCKHOLM, Feb 24 (Reuters) – World number two truck maker
Volvo <VOLVb.ST> said on Wednesday deliveries of its trucks fell
8 percent year-on-year in January as weak demand continued to
plague its main European market.

The highly cyclical heavy-duty truck market plunged into its
steepest downturn in decades when the global financial crisis
struck in 2008, ending years of easy credit and booming sales
that propelled European makers to record profits.

STOCKHOLM, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Assa Abloy <ASSAb.ST>, the
world’s biggest lockmaker, said a sluggish recovery in the U.S.
market would hold back sales growth in 2010, after earnings in
the final quarter of its toughest year ever beat forecasts.

Sweeping cost cuts and decent demand in parts of the market,
mainly within commercial construction, have helped the Swedish
firm ward off some of the pain caused by the economic slump and
a sharp fall in building activity on both sides of the Atlantic.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – World number two truckmaker Volvo <VOLVb.ST> stayed mired in losses in the fourth quarter but boosted cash reserves, as it joined rivals in predicting a gradual recovery for its hard-hit markets in 2010.

The 2.3 billion Swedish crown ($316 million) operating loss lagged expectations, but healthy cash generation cheered investors who sent the stock up 1.9 percent by 1124 GMT, making it Europe’s second biggest blue chip gainer <.FTEU3> and beating a 3.1 percent fall in the DJ Stoxx autos sector <.SXAP>.

STOCKHOLM, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Sweden’s Scania AB <SCVb.ST>
limited the decline in its fourth-quarter pretax profit with the
help of cost cuts and a stabilising truck market, lifting its
shares and those of rival Volvo AB <VOLVb.ST>.

Scania, which like its peers has slashed costs to cope with
the worst downturn in decades, saw order bookings rise
sequentially in the fourth quarter but the forecast-beating
earnings were the main impetus for a surge in its shares.