Husqvarna posts record profit but warns on supply bottlenecks

By Anna Ringstrom

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Gardening equipment maker Husqvarna posted record profits on Thursday as locked down consumers spent big on domestic projects, but it signalled that the supply bottlenecks that weighed during 2021 would remain an issue this year.

Full-year operating profit at the world’s biggest manufacturer of gardening power tools such as trimmers and lawn mowers jumped 57% to 5.75 billion crowns ($624 million) on organic sales growth of 15%. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had on average forecast a 5.66 billion crown profit.

“The stay-at-home trend has contributed positively while we strengthened our market positions in prioritised strategic segments such as battery-powered products, robotic mowers and handheld products,” CEO Henric Andersson said in a statement.

“We work continuously to overcome challenges in our supply chain, including increasing our inventories in preparation for the upcoming season.”

The Swedish group does the bulk of its business towards the end of the first quarter and in the second, ahead of and during the peak gardening season in the northern hemisphere.

In its seasonally weak fourth quarter, losses narrowed sharply by a bigger-than-expected 86%, to 132 million crowns.

The rival of Black & Decker and Honda Motor proposed a dividend of 3.00 crowns per share for 2021, up from 2.40 a year earlier.

($1 = 9.2140 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; editing by Niklas Pollard and John Stonestreet)