Volvo CE sees increased Q1 demand

Sales for January to March totalled SEK24,742 million (US$2,940 million) compared to SEK20,148 million in 2020. Operating income climbed by 42% to SEK3,822 million ($454 million), with the operating margin up to 13.3% to 15.4% and the company also reporting a 73% rise in order intake.

Volvo CE reported increased sales in all its major geographical markets

All geographical market areas reported increased sales, ranging from 12% in Europe to 35% in Asia, which also reported the highest revenue, at SEK11,319 million ($1,345 million).

This was just under half of the total sales for the quarter, helped by strong demand in China due to government infrastructure investment and increased demand in India, Korea and South East Asia.

“It is heartening to see demand increasing in the first quarter of this year, with sales up across all regions and markets,” said Melker Jernberg.

Volvo CE president Melker Jernberg called the results ‘heartening’

“We can take confidence that we have weathered a tough period for our customers, our employees and the wider industry and are beginning to now see higher activity. In many countries, we have seen increased investment in an aging infrastructure, something which we expect to continue for the future.

“Together with a high level of construction activity in several other sectors, this is driving demand for both new machines and services, reflected in both deliveries and order intake rising sharply for the first quarter.”

The latest results marked the third consecutive quarter that sales have increased year-on-year, following a sharp downturn in the second quarter of 2020 that reflected the impact of the early stages of Covid-19 on the business.