Electrolux estimates it has equipped nearly half of the kitchens in all three star Michelin restaurants across Europe. This professional experience has been transferred into the new Inspiration appliance range. Many of the latest features and functionalities have been inspired by the company’s decades of equipping restaurant kitchens, then adapted for home appliances. For example:

• The CombiSteam oven uses a combination of steam-plus-hot-air, a cooking method invented by Electrolux for professionals. Cooking with steam prevents cross-contamination of flavors, making it possible to cook more dishes at the same time, as professionals often do. The latest model is a full 74 liters and a new shelf system offers the possibility of up to nine shelf positions with repositionable telescopic runners, making it possible to cook on three levels at the same time. Electrolux has also made it easier to use a temperature probe, which professionals rely on, by mounting it on the front of the cavity.
• The Inspiro oven is based on the knowledge of several chefs from across Europe. We looked into their preparation methods of about 12,000 dishes. Based upon this we built sequences that, using the parameters of core-temperature and volume, identify the optimal cooking method.
• New InfinitePro induction hobs offer flexible, pre-set heat zones like professionals use to cook multiple dishes at the same time. They also have intuitive touch controls that make it easier to control heat as precisely as professionals do.
• Gas hobs are now equipped with the company’s vertical flame burner, which was adapted from professional equipment to heat pans more evenly and efficiently.
• The GemLine series of modules offers a way to have the kind of bespoke cooking environment that professionals demand, with a choice of everything from paella modules to teppanyaki grills to wok burners.
• RealLife dishwasher models are designed with a “just put it all in” loading philosophy, which comes from the fast-paced world of professional kitchens, where no one has time to meticulously arrange and rearrange the dishes to get everything to fit. They also have an optical sensing system that continuously monitors the wash to achieve optimal water and energy consumption.
• Professional chefs count on using the best possible ingredients. New fridge-freezers keep food fresh longer thanks to TwinTech, which employs a single compressor to run dual cooling systems, thereby maintaining optimal humidity in the fridge while offering frost-free performance in the freezer. MultiFlow further enhances cooling by keeping temperature and humidity consistent at all levels of the fridge.
• Hoods, dishwashers, fridges, washing machines and dryers are powered by quiet, efficient, brushless electric motors developed for professionals and so reliable that the motors come with a 10-year warranty.
• Washing machines and dryers offer steam cycles to de-wrinkle and refresh clothes. Some models are certified Woolmark Gold, which means that even delicate items can be cleaned at home instead of by a professional laundry.

Architectural and authentic

The Inspiration range offers full visual alignment across all product categories – hobs, ovens, hoods, fridges, dishwashers and even washers and dryers. Modern, architectural lines and authentic materials aim to make the appliances elegant and distinctive, yet easy to adapt to different kitchen environments. A distinctive flow line creates a thematic unity across all of the products.

To maximize integration and allow flexibility in configuring the kitchen, edges, doors and panels are aligned both vertically and horizontally, from ovens to warming drawers to coffee machines. This means the appliances line up precisely whether they are installed side by side, stacked, or arranged in a square grouping of four.

Intuitive user interfaces also present a consistent graphic profile. Menus have been re-thought to make it possible to access clever functions in a more natural way with fewer steps. The menus also follow a consistent logic across all product categories for “learn once, use everywhere” ease of use.

“The Cube by Electrolux, will offer guests a showcase of gastronomic excellence set against the backdrop of the River Thames and notable icons of London’s skyline,” say’s Olivia Kaye, Experiential Manager Electrolux. “Guests will have the opportunity to interact and learn from some of the best chefs working today. By sharing the professional shortcuts Electrolux has picked up through our presence in Europe’s Michelin Starred restaurants, we want to show people it doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive to create great experiences at home.”

Award Winning Chefs Supported by Electrolux

Double Michelin star chefs Sat Bains, Claude Bosi and Daniel Clifford will be joined by the winners of “Ramsay’s Best Restaurant 2010” and Michelin star holders Jonray and Peter Sanchez, as well as Scotland’s youngest recipient of a Michelin star, Tom Kitchin. All of the chefs, supported by Electrolux daily in their own restaurants, will use locally sourced ingredients to present set meals during their period of residency.

Unique architecture provides stunning views

A minimalist structure with warm interiors – created to represent the Scandinavian heritage of Electrolux – will provide guests with outstanding views. When guests first arrive the 140sqm space will be open for entertaining and great sight-seeing, especially from the external platform. When meals are served the concealed dining table will drop from the ceiling to seat 18 guests before being raised again for after dinner drinks and mingling.

Book Your Electrolux Cube Experience in London

The Cube by Electrolux in London is open daily. Weekdays Lunch: 12:00. Dinner: 19:00. Reservations required at all times. Set lunch: £175. Set Dinner: £215 (including all drinks).

Seats released every Monday at 9am CET to allow for reservations three weeks in advance. To book a table and find out more visit www.electrolux.co.uk/Cube/London.

European Tour:

The Cube by Electrolux has appeared in Brussels and Milan in 2011, early 2012 and will appear concurrently in Stockholm and London from June until October 2012.

• Net sales amounted to SEK 25,875m (23,436) and income for the period was SEK 559m (457), or SEK 1.96 (1.61) per share.
• Net sales improved by 10.4%, of which 3.5% was organic growth.
• The acquisitions of CTI and Olympic Group impacted sales by 5.8%.
• Strong organic growth, especially in emerging markets, contributed to the positive development of net sales.
• Increased volumes in Europe due to market-share gain in the built-in seg­ment.
• Operating income improved to SEK 943m (696).
• Higher sales prices in North America had a positive impact on operating income.
• Higher costs for raw materials continued to impact earnings negatively, but to a lesser extent than in previous quarters.

Despite a continued weak appliance demand in the mature markets during the quarter, Electrolux was able to improve sales and earnings year-over-year. The record-high sales growth was not only attributable to acquisitions, but was also driven by strong organic growth, especially in Latin Amer­ica. In North America, we are seeing that our price increases are having a positive impact, and our European appliance operation is regaining market share. We continued to improve our cash flow as a result of our ongoing efforts to improve working capital.

In the first quarter, net sales grew by more than 10%, which is a record total sales figure for our appliance busi­ness. While the bulk of the growth generated (6%) was attributable to our acquisitions of the Egyptian company Olympic Group and the Chilean company CTI, organic growth accounted for approximately 4%. Operations in Latin America recorded organic growth of 12% during the first quarter, partly driven by government tax incen­tives in Brazil.

The market demand for core appliances in North America in the first quarter was somewhat weaker than we previously anticipated, however we still expect a certain degree of improvement in the US market by the end of 2012 supported by modest growth in the housing market. Our price increases in the past year made a significant contribution to the improvement in first-quarter operating income. We raised our prices further in February and we believe that prices will be a key ingredient to improve earnings in North America during 2012.

Following several quarters of sliding market share in Europe, we have been able to turn this trend and have, since the end of 2011, regained share. We are capturing shares in strategically important areas within the premium segments, such as built-in kitchen appliances. One of the key factors behind this trend is the launch of new products under the premium brand AEG, which has received a strong market response, and there is more to come in this respect. Last week at the Eurocucina kitchen fair in Milan, the major event during the year for kitchen appliances in Europe, we launched the next generation of high-end appliances under the Electrolux brand, “The Inspiration Range”, for the European market. Together with the AEG products and the re-launch of Zanussi prod­ucts for the mass-market segment, we will deliver a highly competitive product offering in all segments for the entire European market. To support the coming product launches, market spend will increase going forward.

Our view for the remainder of 2012 is consistent with the overall guidance we have previously communicated. While we expect the trend going forward to shift in a more positive direction in the form of gradual improvements in prices and mix and lower costs, we do not anticipate that demand in mature markets will recover in the first half of 2012. We still expect raw-material costs to exceed the 2011 level by a maximum of SEK 500m, with the majority of the amount to impact the first half of the year. We also anticipate increased costs for sourced prod­ucts, transportation and marketing in 2012.

To summarize, we expect earnings to be sequentially better for the second quarter and earnings for the second half of the year to be stronger both compared to the first half of this year, and versus the second half of last year.

We continue to generate a solid cash flow mainly due to a healthy trend in our working capital, which is attribut­able to our ongoing structural efforts to reduce tied-up capital. This strong cash flow has strengthened our bal­ance sheet, enabling us to be prepared for both the uncertainties and the opportunities we face in the period ahead.

Stockholm, April 25, 2012

Keith McLoughlin
President and Chief Executive Officer

• Net sales amounted to SEK 25,875m (23,436) and income for the period was SEK 559m (457), or SEK 1.96 (1.61) per share.
• Net sales improved by 10.4%, of which 3.5% was organic growth.
• The acquisitions of CTI and Olympic Group impacted sales by 5.8%.
• Strong organic growth, especially in emerging markets, contributed to the positive development of net sales.
• Increased volumes in Europe due to market-share gain in the built-in seg­ment.
• Operating income improved to SEK 943m (696).
• Higher sales prices in North America had a positive impact on operating income.
• Higher costs for raw materials continued to impact earnings negatively, but to a lesser extent than in previous quarters.

Telephone conference

A telephone conference is held at 15.00 CET on April 25, 2012. The conference is chaired by Keith McLoughlin, President and CEO of Electrolux. Mr. McLoughlin is accompanied by Tomas Eliasson, CFO, and Peter Nyquist, SVP Investor Relations and Financial Information.

A slide presentation on the first-quarter results of 2012 will be available on the Electrolux website www.electrolux.com/ir

Details for participation by telephone are as follows:

• Participants in Sweden should call +46 (0)8 505 598 53
• Participants in UK/Europe should call +44 (0)20 3043 2436
• Participants in US should call +1 866 458 4087

You can also listen to the presentation at www.electrolux.com/webcast1

For further information

Peter Nyquist, Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations and Financial Information: +46 (0) 8 738 60 03.

Financial information from Electrolux is also available at www.electrolux.com/ir

Long-term borrowings as of March 31, 2012, including long-term borrowings with maturities within 12 months, amounted to SEK 12,624m with average maturities of 2.8 years, compared to SEK 11,669m and 3.0 years at the end of 2011. During 2012 and 2013, long-term borrowings in the amount of approximately SEK 4,100m will mature.

Liquid funds as of March 31, 2012, amounted to SEK 9,506m (10,160), excluding short-term back-up facilities.

Electrolux has two unused committed back-up facilities. One EUR 500m multi-currency revolving credit facility, approximately SEK 4,400m,maturing 2016 with extension options for up to two more years and a credit facility of SEK 3,400m maturing 2017.

Keith R. McLoughlin

President and Chief Executive Officer

Born 1956. B.S. Eng. In Group Management since 2003.

Senior management positions within DuPont in USA, 1981–2003. Vice-President and General Manager of DuPont Nonwovens, 2000–2003, and of DuPont Corian, 1997–2000. Joined Electrolux as Head of Major Appliances North America and Executive Vice-President of AB Electrolux, 2003. Also Head of Major Appliances Latin America, 2004–2007. Chief Operations Officer Major Appliances, 2009. President and Chief Executive Officer of AB Electrolux, 2011.

Board Member of Briggs & Stratton Corporation.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 76,345 B-shares.

Henrik Bergström

Head of Small Appliances, Executive Vice-President

Born 1972. M. Sc. in Business Administration and Economics. In Group Management since 2010.

Business Development and General Management positions within Electrolux Major Appliances Latin America, 1997– 2002. Managing Director of Electrolux in Latin America and Caribbean, 2002– 2008. Vice-President and General Manager for three business areas in Electrolux Major Appliances North America, 2008–2010. Head of Electrolux Asia Sourcing Operations, 2009–2010. Head of Small Appliances and Executive Vice-President of AB Electrolux, 2010.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 11,275 B-Shares.

Jan Brockmann

Chief Technology Officer, Senior Vice President

Born 1966. M. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, M.B.A. In Group Management since 2011.

Management positions within Valeo Group, 1994–1999. Project Manager in Roland Berger Strategy Consultants GmbH, 2000–2001. Senior management positions within Volkswagen Group, 2001–2010. Joined Electrolux as Head of R&D, Major Appliances, 2010. Group Chief Technology Officer, 2011.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 2,437 B-shares.

Tomas Eliasson

Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice-President

Born 1962. B. Sc. in Business Administration and Economics. In Group Management since 2012.

Management positions within ABB Group, 1987–2002. Chief Financial Officer in Seco Tools AB, 2002–2006. Chief Financial Officer of ASSA ABLOY AB, 2006–2012.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 0 shares.

Ruy Hirschheimer

Head of Major Appliances Latin America, Executive Vice-President

Born 1948. M.B.A. Doctoral Program in Business Administration. In Group Management since 2008.

Executive Vice-President of Alcoa Aluminum in Brazil, 1983–1986. President and CEO of J.I. Case Brazil, 1990–1994. President and CEO of Bunge Foods, 1994–1997. Senior Vice-President of Bunge International Ltd. in USA, 1997–1998. Joined Electrolux as Head of Brazilian Major Appliances operations, 1998. Head of Major Appliances Latin America, 2002. Executive Vice-President of AB Electrolux, 2008.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 50,463 B-shares.

MaryKay Kopf

Chief Marketing Officer, Senior Vice-President

Born 1965. B.S. Finance, M.B.A. In Group Management since 2011.

Senior management positions within DuPont in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and globally, 1991–2003. Joined Electrolux in 2003 as Vice-President Brand Marketing, Major Appliances North America, 2003. Group Chief Marketing Officer, 2011.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 10,609 B-shares.

Stefano Marzano

Chief Design Officer, Senior Vice-President

Born 1950. Doctorate in architecture. In Group Management since 2012.

Senior designer, Philips-IRE Major Domestic Appliances Division, 1973–1978. Design Group Leader, Philips Data Systems and Telecommunications Division, 1978–1982. Director, Philips-Ire Design Centre (Major Domestic Appliances Division), 1982–1989. Vice-President and Head of Corporate Industrial Design, Whirlpool International (a Whirlpool and Philips joint venture), 1989–1991. Executive Vice-President and Chief Design Officer, Philips, 1991–2011. Joined Electrolux as Group Chief Design Officer, 2012.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 0 shares.

Gunilla Nordström

Head of Major Appliances Asia/Pacific, Executive Vice- President

Born 1959. M. Sc. in Group Management since 2007.

Senior management positions within Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Sony Ericsson in Europe, Latin America and Asia, 1983–2005. President of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (China) Co. Ltd. and Corporate Vice-President of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, 2005–2007. Joined Electrolux as Head of Major Appliances Asia/Pacific and Executive Vice-President of AB Electrolux, 2007.

Board Member of Atlas Copco AB.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 26,382 B-shares.

Jonas Samuelson

Head of Major Appliances Europe, Middle East and Africa, Executive Vice-President

Born 1968. M. Sc. in Business Administration and Economics. In Group Management since 2008.

Business development and finance positions within General Motors in USA, 1996–1999. Treasurer and Director of Commercial Finance and Business Support in Saab Automobile AB, 1999–2001. Senior management positions within controlling and finance in General Motors North America, 2001–2005. Chief Financial Officer of Munters AB, 2005–2008. Chief Financial Officer of AB Electrolux, 2008–2011 as well as Chief Operations Officer and Head of Global Operations Major Appliances during 2011. Head of Major Appliances Europe, Middle East and Africa and Executive Vice-President of AB Electrolux, 2011.

Board Member of Polygon AB.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 10,935 B-shares.

Jack Truong

Head of Major Appliances North America, Executive Vice-President

Born 1962. Ph.D. Chem. Eng. In Group Management since 2011.

Research & Development and Business Management positions within 3M in USA, 1989–1997. Business Director, 3M Home Care Business, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, 1997–2001. Managing Director of 3M Thailand Ltd., 2001–2003. Vice-President and General Manager of 3M Global Office Supplies Division, 2003–2009. Vice-President and General Manager of 3M Global Construction and Home Improvement Division, 2009–2011. Joined Electrolux as Head of Major Appliances North America and Executive Vice-President of AB Electrolux, 2011.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 0 shares.

Cecilia Vieweg

General Counsel, Senior Vice-President

Born 1955. B. of Law. In Group Management since 1999.

Attorney of Berglund & Co Advokatbyrå, 1987–1990. Corporate Legal Counsel of AB Volvo, 1990–1992. General Counsel of Volvo Car Corporation, 1992–1997. Attorney and partner of Wahlin Advokatbyrå, 1998. Joined Electrolux as Senior Vice-President and General Counsel, with responsibility for legal, intellectual property, risk management and security matters, 1999.

Board Member of Vattenfall AB, PMC Group AB and member of the Swedish Securities Council.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 23,164 B-shares.

Lars Worsøe Petersen

Head of Human Resources and Organizational Development, Senior Vice-President

Born 1958. M.Econ. In Group Management since 2011.

Joined Electrolux as head of Human Resources Electrolux in Denmark, 1994. Vice-President Human Resources within Electrolux Major Appliances Europe, 1999–2000. Head of Electrolux Holding A/S in Denmark, 2000–2002. Head of Human Resources for Electrolux Major Appliances North America, 2002–2005. Head of Group Staff Human Resources at Husqvarna AB, 2005–2011. Rejoined Electrolux as Head of Group Staff Human Resources and Organizational Development, 2011.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 0 shares.

Alberto Zanata

Head of Professional Products, Executive Vice-President

Born 1960. University degree in Electrical Engineering with Business Administration. In Group Management since 2009.

Joined Electrolux Professional Products, 1989. Senior management positions within factory management, marketing, product management and business development, 1989–2002. Head of Professional Products in North America, 2003–2008. Head of Professional Products and Executive Vice-President of AB Electrolux, 2009.

Holdings in AB Electrolux: 22,379 B-shares.

Holdings in AB Electrolux as of March 31, 2012.

Figures are mean values of the estimates. All opinions, estimates or forecasts regarding the company’s performance made by contributing analysts are theirs alone and do not represent opinions, forecasts or predictions by the company or its management.

Comments

All full-year statistics are updated on a continuing basis by SME Direkt. Last update shows when estimates or forecasts for one or several contributing analysts have been updated. None of the analysts’ estimates are older than three months.

Quarterly estimates are updated and presented by SME Direkt a couple of days prior the release of the company’s Interim report. This column is otherwise blank or has zeros.

The table shows number of participating analysts, if you hold your cursor over each item.

The Electrolux culture features diversity and innovation. Development of innovative products is a vital part of it. Diversity is a prerequisite for Electrolux ability to compete in a global market. Personnel with diverse backgrounds create greater understanding of consumer need in different countries.

Electrolux has a number of tools that contribute to the realization of the People Vision, including leadership development programs at all levels of management, the Talent Management program, succession planning, the internal Open Labor Market (OLM), and the web-based Employee Attitude Survey (EAS).

Code of Conduct

The Group has a Code of Conduct that defines high employment standards for all Electrolux employees in all countries and business sectors. It incorporates issues such as child and forced labor, health and safety, workers’ rights and environmental compliance.

Number of employees

The average number of employees increased in 2010 to 51,544 (50,633), of whom 2,296 (2,445) were in Sweden. The increase refers mainly to growth in Brazil. At year-end, the total number of employees was 50,920 (51,750).

Salaries and remuneration in 2010 amounted to SEK 12,678m (13,162), of which SEK 1,053m (973) refers to Sweden.