"Looking into 2023, consumer sentiment is anticipated to continue to be negatively impacted by a high inflation and interest rate environment, although with regional differences," Chief Executive Jonas Samuelson said in a statement.
"We see a challenge to fully offset an anticipated negative impact from external factors in 2023 fullyear with price on a group level," he said. The maker of brands such as Frigidaire and Anova proposed to not pay a dividend for 2022, against a 9.20 crown dividend the year before.
Electrolux had warned on Jan. 11 that continued high costs and weak demand, particularly in North America, would lead to an estimated fourth-quarter operating loss of around 2.0 billion Swedish crowns on an 8% drop in organic sales.
On Thursday the firm reported an operating loss of 1.96 billion crowns ($190.3 million) against a year-earlier profit of 882 million crowns. The result included an earlier announced 1.5-billion crown restructuring charge.
Electrolux had flagged already in September it expected
demand to remain weak in both Europe and North America in 2023
as it announced a company-wide cost-cutting programme, in
addition to ongoing measures to improve its production
capacities in North America.
($1 = 10.3017 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Marie Mannes, editing by Anna Ringstrom and
Raissa Kasolowsky)
