NEWS

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">Swedish industrial bearings maker SKF (</span><span id="”symbol_SKFb.ST_0”" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:inherit;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;border-bottom:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;margin:0px;padding-right:0px;font-stretch:inherit;"><a style="border-left-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;word-wrap:break-word;text-decoration:none;font-family:inherit;border-right-width:0px;border-top-color:;vertical-align:baseline;border-bottom:#128fdd 1px dotted;border-left-color:;color:;padding-bottom:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;margin:0px;border-right-color:;padding-right:0px;border-top-width:0px;font-stretch:inherit;border-image:initial;" href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=SKFb.ST"><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">SKFb.ST</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">) needs to increase its focus on cost-cutting to stay “ahead of the curve” in an uncertain macroeconomic environment, Chief Executive Alrik Danielson told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.</span> </p> <img alt="" src="http://www.bearing.com.cn/membcentre/editor/attached/image/20190117/20190117124155_12661.jpg" /> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> &nbsp; </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">Danielson also stuck with the company’s forecast for slightly higher year-on year demand in the fourth quarter.</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">With car sales in China and Europe slipping, and manufacturing purchasing manager indices in those markets trending lower, the fear is that the industrial market is next in line to take a hit.</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">Financial markets are on edge for signals of weakening demand, and investors have relentlessly sold off industrial stocks over the past few months.</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">“You have import duties and you have cost inflation with rising steel prices, while the duties and other things increase the uncertainty of the business cycle,” Danielson said.</span> </p> <div style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:10px;border-top:0px;font-family:knowledge-regular, sans-serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#000000;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px;letter-spacing:normal;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <div class="DPSlot_container StandardArticleBody_dp-slot-inline StandardArticleBody_inline-canvas" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:12px;border-top:0px;font-family:inherit;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;border-bottom:0px;position:relative;padding-bottom:0px;text-align:center;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;clear:both;border-left:0px;margin:45px 0px 45px 86px;padding-right:0px;font-stretch:inherit;" data-ad-type="other"> </div> </div> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">“Even though we still see exactly the same outlook as we have stated, this has to do with being proactive in the cycle, and saying that in order to be ahead of the curve, this is the time to start increasing our focus on cost.”</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">SKF shares are down 23 percent this year, compared to a 45 percent drop for German rival Schaeffler (</span><span id="”symbol_SHA_p.DE_1”" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:inherit;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;border-bottom:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;margin:0px;padding-right:0px;font-stretch:inherit;"><a style="border-left-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;word-wrap:break-word;text-decoration:none;font-family:inherit;border-right-width:0px;border-top-color:;vertical-align:baseline;border-bottom:#128fdd 1px dotted;border-left-color:;color:;padding-bottom:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;margin:0px;border-right-color:;padding-right:0px;border-top-width:0px;font-stretch:inherit;border-image:initial;" href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=SHA_p.DE"><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">SHA_p.DE</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">) and an 8 percent drop for the European industrial sector. .SXNP</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">Business daily Dagens Industri earlier on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources, said pressure on Danielson was mounting as the stock underperformed and that key staff had started to question him as a CEO.</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">Danielson said he was “really shocked” at the report. “I don’t recognize this at all,” he said.</span> </p> <div style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:10px;border-top:0px;font-family:knowledge-regular, sans-serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#000000;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px;letter-spacing:normal;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <div class="DPSlot_container StandardArticleBody_dp-slot-inline" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:12px;border-top:0px;font-family:inherit;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;border-bottom:0px;position:relative;padding-bottom:0px;text-align:center;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;margin:45px 0px 45px 86px;padding-right:0px;font-stretch:inherit;" data-ad-type="other"> </div> </div> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">The company has undergone significant changes in the nearly four years that Danielson has been at the helm, cutting thousands of staff, reshuffling management, and embarking on a drive to modernize and automate its manufacturing plants.</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">In a quarterly update, posted on SKF’s staff intranet last month and seen by Reuters, Danielson outlined positive developments in the quarter, but emphasized the need to cut costs, citing rising prices at suppliers, increasing steel prices and wages, and import duties.</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">“When you work extremely hard to serve the market it’s tougher to work as hard on cost at the same time,” Danielson said in Wednesday’s interview.</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">“But when you catch up, you can start to work on it. It can be things such as extra costs in logistics, it can be extra staff that you added because you needed to ramp up quickly, and other things.”</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">On Oct. 25, SKF, the world’s largest maker of industrial bearings, forecast slightly higher year-on-year demand in the fourth quarter, including a rise in activity for its industrial business and a slight decline for its smaller automotive business.</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">Its quarterly operating profit was in line with analyst forecasts, while profitability lagged slightly.</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> <span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">SKF derives about 70 percent of group sales from its industrial business and the rest from the automotive sector.</span> </p> <p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:21px;border-top:0px;font-family:freight-book, serif;border-right:0px;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-bottom:0px;text-transform:none;font-weight:400;color:#313132;padding-bottom:0px;font-style:normal;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;orphans:2;widows:2;margin:0px 0px 30px 86px;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.52;padding-right:0px;background-color:#ffffff;text-indent:0px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"> &nbsp; </p>