Volvo AB, Back to Profit

After struggling for the better part of 2009 with negative financial results, Swedish truck maker Volvo AB announced it has returned to profit, after reporting a 1.68 billion Swedish kronor ($238 million) profit. For comparison, in 2009 Volvo AB reported a 4.23 billion kronor loss for the first quarter of the year.

"With a gradually improved global economy, demand is once again increasing for the group's products," Leif Johansson, Volvo AB CEO said according to MarketWatch. "At the same time, the measures we have implemented to cut costs have generated good results throughout the group."

"Looking ahead, we will focus on utilizing the rising sales volume to increase productivity in all of the group's operations while maintaining a strict focus on costs."

Volvo sold 4 percent more vehicles than in the same period last year, with the operating income increasing to 2.8 billion kronor. The results posted by the manufacturer of Volvo, Mack, Renault and UD trucks exceeded market expectations, who was looking to a 427.9 million kronor operating income.

For the future, Volvo AB predicts a 10 percent growth in Europe and a 20 to 30 percent increase for the American market. The improvement shown on the European truck market is expected to continue throughout the year, Johansson hopes.

As a result of the financial report, shares of Volvo rose 9.6 percent in morning trading sessions on the OMX Exchange. Over the past three months, Volvo shares increased by a healthy 41 percent.