Volvo Trucks reports "historic" profits in Q3

Sweden's Volvo Trucks on Tuesday reported a before-tax profit of 5.443 billion kronor (770 million dollars U.S.) during the third quarter of this year, according to a report from Swedish News Agency TT. "A historic third quarter result, the best over the past six years," commented Olof Persson, CEO of Volvo Trucks, when he issued the report. However, he added that 400 to 450 staff would be made redundant next year despite the profit and increase of truck deliveries. "It is really too bad, but we have to see the context that we recruited 2,300 people in Sweden this year. We think we should learn lessons from 2008 and 2009 and react quickly to the signs of the market," he explained, adding he did not think the current situation was as serious as it was during the height of the financial crisis. It is predicted that the European trucks market will shrink by 10 percent next year even though orders at Volvo increased by 18 percent in the third quarter. Volvo Trucks' deliveries in September rose by 46 percent to 10,731 trucks compared to the same month last year, according to a statement from the company. Deliveries were up by 44 percent to 26,439 trucks this quarter, the statement added.