STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Electrolux (ST:ELUXb) lowered its North American demand outlook on Friday after beating third-quarter profit expectations helped by cost cuts and a tighter focus on higher margin appliances.
The maker of Electrolux, Frigidaire, AEG and other household appliance brands followed U.S. rival Whirlpool (N:WHR) in cutting its North American demand growth outlook this year to 3-4 percent from 4-5 percent.
The company stuck to a forecast for 2-4 percent growth in Europe but said signs of weakness in markets such as Britain, which voted in June to leave the European Union, meant growth was likely to come in at the lower end of the range.
Electrolux, which also competes with Asian firms such as LG Electronics (KS:066570) and Haier Group, has benefited from decent overall demand in Europe this year while U.S. sales have been choppy in recent months.
The Swedish company said operating earnings rose to 1.83 billion Swedish crowns (166 million pounds) from 1.51 billion, beating the 1.73 billion expected by analysts polled by Reuters.
Whirlpool shares tumbled this week on a weaker-than-expected outlook and after it said it was suffering from discounting, particularly for washing machines, and softer demand in the United States.
Electrolux said like-for-like sales in its North American home appliances business fell 4.6 percent in the third quarter driven by lower private label sales, where appliances are sold under the labels of major retailers.
"Sales volumes of core appliances under own brands grew, while price pressure in the market had a negative impact on sales," the company said in a statement.
