Business Services Industry

Saab AB reports sharp decline in Q3 profit

Nordic Business Report, Oct 17, 2008

Swedish defence and aerospace group Saab AB (OMX Stockholm:SAAB B) issued on Friday (17 October) its third quarter figures, posting an operating profit (EBIT) of SEK31m, as compared to SEK318m in the third quarter of 2007.

Sales for the quarter amounted to SEK4,583m, down from SEK4,811m in the corresponding quarter last year.

Earnings per share fell to a loss of SEK0.89 from a profit of SEK1.99.

"We are now intensifying our efficiency improvement program with the objective to reach a total cost reduction of SEK1.5bn by the end of 2010. This will lead to a reduction of 500 employees during a two-year period, primarily achieved through attrition. While the global economic conditions remain uncertain, we maintain our outlook for 2008 of an organic sales growth of 3-4% and an operating margin of 8-9%," said Ake Svensson, CEO of Saab.

Saab, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is a global high-tech group providing products, services and solutions from military defence to civil security. The group has 13,700 employees worldwide and annual sales of SEK23bn.

One British pound (GBP) is worth approximately 12.83 Swedish kronor (SEK).

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