Volvo posts Q2 loss of $720M as deliveries fall

Volvo AB, the world's second-largest truckmaker, reported a second-quarter net loss that exceeded analysts' estimates. The company maintained its industry sales forecasts for Europe and North America.

The net loss was 5.56 billion kronor ($720 million), compared with net income of 5.13 billion kronor a year earlier, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based company said in a statement today. Analysts had estimated a loss of 3.9 billion kronor, according to a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

"During the second quarter, weak demand continued in essentially all of the Volvo Group's markets," Chief Executive Officer Leif Johansson said in the statement. "In the next few years, the focus will be directed toward strengthening profitability."

North American industrywide sales of heavy trucks will fall between 30 percent and 40 percent this year, while European deliveries will drop by at least half, Volvo said today.