Volvo's Fourth-Quarter Profit Rises Sharply

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Swedish vehicle maker Volvo AB reported a 168 percent surge in profits for the fourth quarter last year as higher sales across the board overcame weakness in the company's Asian operations.

Volvo, which agreed last month to sell its automobile division to Ford Motor Co., earned 3.08 billion kronor ($397 million) in the three months ending Dec. 31, up sharply from from $143 million in the same period a year ago.

Revenues rose 19 percent to $8.08 billion from $6.80 billion.

Besides its well-known car division, Volvo also makes trucks, buses, construction equipment and marine and aviation engines. The proposed sale of its car division to Ford for $6.45 billion is aimed at giving Volvo the resources to concentrate on developing

ts other divisions.

Volvo last month surprised markets by acquiring 13 percent of the stock in rival Swedish truck-maker Scania and is making an effort to buy the company.

For the year, Volvo reported a profit of $1.11 billion, a fall of 16 percent from $1.34 billion the previous year despite higher sales in all divisions. Revenues rose 16 percent to $27.48 billion from $23.70 billion.

Volvo also reported sharply higher expenses in research and development, selling and administration, bringing the annual profit down. Other expenses affecting profit included $149 million for restructuring costs in its construction equipment division.

The automobile division reported sales for the year of $13.4 billion, up from $12.45 billion the previous year. For the fourth quarter of 1998, car sales were $3.85 billion compared with $3.41 billion for the same period in 1997.

Volvo sold a total 435,680 cars worldwide in 1998, up from 416,070 the previous year, despite sharply lower sales in Asia.

Sales in North America grew to 110,700 from 101,980 and in Europe rose to 255,540 from 239,960.