SKF

STOCKHOLM — Sweden’s SKF, the world’s largest producer of ball bearings, said on Friday it was cutting 1,700 jobs, mainly in Europe, in a bid to secure “future competitiveness” and reported a drop in sales.

SKF also announced a sharp fall in net profit for the second quarter to 583 million kronor ($60 million), down from 1.7 billion kronor for the same period in 2024.

The company reported a 9.6-percent drop in sales, to 23.2 billion kronor ($2.4 billion), citing currency headwinds and challenging market conditions in the automotive sector.

SKF has decided to spin off its automotive business into a separate company, which it plans to list on the Stockholm stock exchange in the first half of 2026.

The approximately 1,700 positions would be “primarily staff positions in Europe”, the company said.

“These actions are difficult to take but necessary to secure our future competitiveness,” SKF CEO Rickard Gustafson said.

Due to simultaneous re-hires, the net reduction would be roughly 1,200 positions, SKF said.

It said the cuts were expected to result in savings of about 2.0 billion kronor per year from 2027 onwards.

The measures would be implemented in the second half of 2025 and continue in 2026 and 2027, the chief executive told the news agency TT.

SKF had some 38,700 employees worldwide at the end of 2024. — AFP

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