Interim Report January - March 2009

SECO TOOLS AB

Interim report for the three months ended 31 March 2009

- Revenue for the quarter fell by 28 per cent at fixed exchange rates and 17 per cent in Swedish kronor (SEK), and amounted to SEK 1,351 M (1,632).
- First quarter profit was charged with one-time costs of SEK 29 M related to workforce reductions.
- As a result of significantly decreased volumes, operating profit for the quarter declined to SEK 95 M (403).
- Operating margin was 7.0 per cent (24.7).
- Profit after tax was SEK 54 M (274).
- Earnings per share were SEK 0.37 (1.89).

Comments from the CEO

“Seco Tools posts a sharp drop in revenues for the first quarter. The weaker demand situation is fairly evenly spread across both mature and emerging markets. Our opinion is however that we continue to develop stronger than the average market.

The cost adaptations we announced in November and February are proceeding according to plan, and will all in all reduce the company’s annual cost level by around SEK 500 M. The cost reduction programmes include among other things a reduction of our global work-force by around 800 positions. Consolidated profit for the quarter includes one-time costs of SEK 29 M arising from the redundancies that were announced in February.

Operating margin for the first quarter was 7.0 per cent (24.7) including the one-time costs described above. The decrease compared to the previous year is otherwise mainly attributable to the fall-off in sales and a lower production volume. The period’s lower earnings have been somewhat offset by the effects of the cost-cutting programme and positive foreign exchange effects.

Present demand situation is affected by inventory reduction among our end-customers, a trend that is expected to continue until after the summer. The outlook for the full year is very difficult to assess and we see no indications of an improved demand scenario at present.” says Kai Wärn, President and CEO of Seco Tools.