Scania Reports Profits Are Up 22% Through Third Quarter

PARIS — Scania, the Swedish heavy truck builder, has reported profits of $317 million through first nine months of this year, a 22% increase over the same period in 1997.

Scania attributes the rise in profits to a 15% increase in sales in Europe, where it now has a 15.1% share of the Class 8 truck market. In Latin America, truck sales dropped by 18%, and Scania’s share of the Brazilian market fell from 39.5% to 32.7%.

Worldwide, Scania sales rose 8% to 35,748 Class 8 trucks and buses in the first nine months, which generated revenues of about $4.1 billion. Its profit margin rose to 7.7%, compared to 7.2% in the first nine months of last year.