SKF First-quarter report 2009

Tom Johnstone, President and CEO:
“We saw a very significant drop in our sales volumes in the first quarter and reduced our manufacturing level even more. The actions which we have put in place to focus on profit and cash flow are having the right effect. Looking at the second quarter we expect to see a similar level of decline in volume year on year as we saw in the first quarter. However, we can see that the speed of decline sequentially is reducing which indicates that demand may be leveling out".
Q1 Q1
2009 2008
Net sales, SEKm 14,849 15,596
Operating profit, SEKm 768 2,040
Operating margin, % 5.2 13.1
Profit before taxes, SEKm 531 1,924
Net profit, SEKm 394 1,296
Basic earnings per share, SEK 0.86 2.77

The decrease of 4.8% in net sales for the quarter, in SEK, was attributable to:
volume -26.9%, structure 1.4%, price/mix 7.1% and currency effects 13.6%.

The quarter included expenses for restructuring activities and other one-time items of around SEK 175 million (0), of which around SEK 65 million are write downs and impairments. Approximately SEK 100 million of these expenses were announced already in December 2008 to be taken in 2009.

Outlook for the second quarter of 2009
The demand for SKF products and services is expected to be significantly lower in the second quarter compared to the second quarter last year for the Group in total, for all the Divisions and for all regions.

Compared to the first quarter, demand is expected to be slightly lower for the SKF Group in total and lower in Europe, slightly lower in North America and relatively unchanged in Asia and Latin America. Demand is expected to be relatively unchanged for the Automotive Division and slightly lower for both the Industrial and Service Division.

The manufacturing level will be significantly lower year on year and relatively unchanged compared to the first quarter.

Göteborg, 21 April 2009

Aktiebolaget SKF
(publ.)

Tom Johnstone
President and CEO


AB SKF may be required to disclose the information provided herein according to the Securities Markets Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 12.00 (CET) on 21 April 2009.


Further information can be obtained from:
Ingalill Östman, Group Communication
tel: +46-31-3373260, mobile: +46-706-973260, e-mail: ingalill.ostman@skf.com
Marita Björk, Investor Relations
tel: +46-31-3371994, mobile: +46-705-181994, e-mail: marita.bjork@skf.com