By Dominic Chopping
STOCKHOLM — Volvo Car AB posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday after seeing increased sales volumes, a positive mix and price increases, but warned that 2023 will be another challenging year.
Net profit attributable to shareholders rose to SEK 2.46 billion ($232.2 million) from SEK 2.12 billion as revenue rose 31% to SEK 105.25 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet had projected a net profit of SEK 2.29 billion, on revenue of SEK 98.49 billion.
The Swedish carmaker said that during 2023 it expects commodity prices to remain at high levels and spot buying of semiconductors to continue. However, it is hopeful that the supply shortage related to the Covid-19 in China is in the past and continues to see a steady improvement in the supply of semiconductors.
In addition, the company said it is optimistic that the price of lithium will begin to decline towards the end of the year.
Despite global turbulence, uncertainty and recent price increases, Volvo Car continues to see healthy demand for its cars, he said.
“We expect solid double-digit retail sales growth this year, provided there are no unexpected supply chain disruptions,” CEO Jim Rowan said.
“We intend to continue to increase our all-electric car volumes in 2023, making the full-year share higher than last year’s 11% share.”
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
(FI) Dow Jones Newswires
February 9, 2023 01:50 ET (06:50 GMT)
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