President and CEO Hans Stråberg's comments on the first quarter 2008 report

President and CEO Hans Stråberg's comments on the first quarter 2008 report

This quarter, like many recent ones, contains both positive and negative events.
The result was decreased by a number of significant non-recurring costs, the
purpose of which is to strengthen our long-term operations. At the same time, we
see result improvements in Asia, Latin America and for our professional
products. However, we - like many others - have been affected by a weakening
market, which also creates uncertainty about the future.

Through the implementation of a simpler structure in Europe, more than 400
people will leave Electrolux. The cost for this structural change has been
applied to the first quarter. This will generate between SEK 350m and SEK 400m
in savings on an annual basis, which will begin to take effect at the end of
2008. The program is being implemented according to plan, as is our work to
reduce product costs in Europe related to last year's extensive product launch.

Another important “cost” during the period was for our launch of a completely
new range of Electrolux-branded products in North America. This is an investment
that in the long run will give us a strong position within the very attractive
premium segment. I visited the giant kitchen and bath show in Chicago in April
and saw for myself how many of our customers were truly impressed by our new
products and our very comprehensive marketing campaign. Media investments
include television, magazines, and especially the Internet
(www.electroluxappliances.com). Our new products are already on the floor of
about 1,500 retailers around the United States, which is more than we originally
planned.

We have many examples that illustrate the benefits of investing in attractive
products and marketing. One is that the operating margin in our global vacuum
cleaner operations is just under 10 percent. This is very impressive,
considering our situation four years ago. 

The good news in this report is that the operating results for our operations in
Asia/Pacific and Latin America and for professional products have improved by a
total of about SEK 250m.

I have previously mentioned the improvements in Australia after a number of
tough years. We are now beginning to see a stabilization in China at the same
time as the significance of Southeast Asia is increasing. Southeast Asia
continues to show very profitable growth. Latin America shows very stable
profitability and strong growth. 

Within professional food service we are improving our margins through a more
modern approach to reach our customers. Within professional laundry there is a
great potential improvement through more efficient production and new products.

Demand for our products has been lower than we had expected and the market
downturn in Europe and North America affected our results negatively. As
everyone knows, there is a great uncertainty about future market developments. 

If we look into the future, I want to repeat, in spite of a tough beginning of
2008, that our outlook for the full year holds: Operating income for 2008 is
expected to be in-line with 2007. Since we published our outlook in February I
have been asked to define “in-line” and my answer has been that “in-line” means
a single digit percentage change, plus or minus. Given the current market
development I expect our operating result for 2008 to be in the lower end of
that range.

Stockholm, April 28, 2008

Hans Stråberg
President and Chief Executive Officer




Electrolux is a global leader in home appliances and appliances for professional
use, selling more than 40 million products to customers in 150 countries every
year. The company focuses on innovations that are thoughtfully designed, based
on extensive consumer insight, to meet the real needs of consumers and
professionals. Electrolux products include refrigerators, dishwashers, washing
machines, vacuum cleaners and cookers sold under esteemed brands such as
Electrolux, AEG-Electrolux, Eureka and Frigidaire. In 2007, Electrolux had sales
of SEK 105 billion and 57,000 employees. For more information, visit
http://www.electrolux.com/press


The information in this Interim Report is that which Electrolux is required to
disclose under the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments
Trading Act. It was released for publication at 08.00 CET on April 28, 2008.