Electrolux rises on smaller-than-feared Q1 loss, signs of recovery

BUZZ-Electrolux rises on smaller-than-feared Q1 loss, signs of recovery

** Shares in Electrolux ELUXb.ST rise 3% after the Swedish home appliance maker posted alower-than-expected operating lossfor Q1, noting an improvement in consumer confidence

** Electrolux books an operating loss of 720 million Swedish crowns ($66.36 million) in the quarter, somewhat below the760 million crowns seen in an LSEG poll of analysts

** The company says consumer confidence seems to have bottom out, even though demand does not reflect that yet

** It now expects 2024 demand for core appliances in Latin America to be neutral/positive vs 2023 while against neutral demandseen earlier

** “Overall, with signs of operating performance bottoming out in Q1 and change of guards, we expect the stock could outperform today,” J.P.Morgan analysts say

** Electrolux expects promotional activity in North America to moderate in 2024, which the broker says could indicate that performance, as well as the group, could be bottoming out in Q1

($1 = 10.8494 Swedish crowns)

Reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki