STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish appliances maker Electrolux lowered its North America market outlook on Tuesday as it reported a smaller first-quarter profit than expected, saying U.S. President Trump’s import tariff plans hit consumer sentiment.
It said that although overall market demand was largely unchanged in North America and Europe in the quarter, increased economic uncertainty and concerns around U.S. trade policy developments meant shoppers held on tighter to their wallets.
Shares were down 9% in early trade.
“Consumers shifted to lower price points,” it said, adding that shoppers also postponed purchases of discretionary goods.
Yannick Fierling, the new CEO since January, said the demand outlook for home appliances was getting increasingly uncertain in the second quarter.
“On the back of this, we have adjusted our market outlook for North America for the full year 2025 compared to 2024 from ‘Neutral’ to ‘Neutral to negative’,” he said in a statement.
Electrolux said it now sees a “significantly negative” effect on the company this year from external factors, which include trade tariffs. Its previous forecast, from January, was for a “negative” effect.
The group, whose brands include Frigidaire, AEG, Zanussi and Volta as well as Electrolux, said it however aimed to offset higher tariff related costs with price increases to customers.
“We will continue to closely monitor this to ensure that we take appropriate actions going forward, including price changes,” it said.
It swung to an operating profit of 452 million crowns ($467 million) in the first quarter from a year-earlier 720 million loss on sales growth before currency translation effects of 8%.
Analysts polled by LSEG had on average forecast a profit of 610 million crowns.
Electrolux said higher sales volumes and cost cuts lifted earnings, while currency effects and a slightly negative price impact weighed. Changes in U.S. tariffs had a minor impact.
The rival to China’s Midea and U.S. Whirlpool, repeated outlooks for neutral demand levels in its Europe and Asia-Pacific markets as well as in Latin America.
($1 = 9.6259 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Stine Jacobsen and David Evans)
