Alrik Danielson, President and CEO of SKF, said: “We will continue to work hard to maintain the environmental safety of factories and office spaces around the world. Employee safety and well-being are top priorities.”
Although the global pandemic of new pneumonia caused a decline in market demand, our performance is still very impressive. According to statistics, SKF first quarter of 2020: cash flow SEK 1.93 billion, operating profit SEK 2.572 billion. Adjusted operating profit margin increased by 12.8%, and organic net sales fell by approximately 9% to 20.1 billion SEK.
Industrial business: Although organic sales fell by nearly 7%, the adjusted profit margin still reached 15.5% (compared to 15.8% last year).
Automobile business: Since mid-March, European automobile business has been severely affected by customer shutdowns and production. Organic sales fell by more than 13%, but the adjusted profit margin still reached 5.7%, which was the same as last year.
We will continue to work hard to ensure safety in the workplace, and pay more attention to personal hygiene and health. Although many economies and societies are currently facing an extremely severe situation, our colleagues around the world continue to pay attention to customer needs and perform very well.
We should also move from time to time to follow the trend to reduce the financial impact of the external situation. We need to take measures that are difficult but very necessary in a responsible manner to protect our business, preserve our strength, and grow into a stronger SKF after the crisis.