Thanks to the increase in sales in North and South America, Whirlpool closes the fourth half with a profit up 48%. The profit estimate for 2014 is substantially in line with that forecast by analysts.
In early trading on Wall Street, the title rose by 1,2% after the results.
The company, a multinational appliance manufacturer, closed the quarter with a net income of 181 million dollars, or 2,26 dollars per share, up from 122 million dollars recorded a year earlier, equal to 1,52 dollars per share.
Whirlpool said, about a month ago, that it wanted to close the Swedish factory in Norrkoeping and transfer all the production of built-in appliances in the EMEA area to Italy, in Cassinetta. The goal would be to relaunch the competitiveness of its built-in products in the EMEA area.
In the last three months of 2013, sales of Whirlpool, Maytag and KitchenAid branded appliances rose 6,2% to $5,1 billion. Looking forward, Whirlpool expects to report 2014 profit excluding post extraordinary, equal to 12-12,5 dollars per share.
The group explained that sales increased in all regions except Asia, where they fell 7%, mainly due to lower demand in India. Sales rose 9% in North America, from 8% in Latin America and 1% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“The improvement is due to increased sales, initiatives taken to reduce costs and production capacity,” Whirlpool explains in a statement.
