Stockholm, Feb 08: Sweden's AB Volvo, the world's second-biggest truck producer, reported better fourth-quarter pre-tax profits than expected on Friday but said there would be no major recovery in its two key markets in early '03. The group reported October-December pre-tax profit of 737m Swedish crowns ($86.9m), compared with a loss of 547m crown a year earlier and a consensus market forecast of 665m crowns.

The group reported sales of 45.9bn crowns in the quarter, down from 48.6bn a year before but spot on market expectations of 45.8bn. "Our major concern is the world economic uncertainty," Volvo said in a statement.
"We do not expect a major recovery in North America during the first part of '03 and Europe is likely to face a continued but not dramatic downturn." Bureau Report