(Reuters) - Swedish industrial group Atlas Copco on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter adjusted operating profit above market expectations and said it saw no changes to customer activity in the short
Atlas Copco Reports Stable Outlook After Q4 Profit Beat
(Reuters) - Swedish industrial group Atlas Copco on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter adjusted operating profit above market expectations and said it saw no changes to customer activity in the short term.
It had said it expected the near-term customer activity to weaken somewhat when it reported Q3 results in October.
The market has been awaiting a recovery in the semiconductor space, as it could help Atlas Copco's vacuum business which delivers assembly components for major semiconductor equipment makers like ASML.
The maker of air treatment systems, construction gear and power tools said its operating profit before items affecting comparability was 10 billion Swedish crowns ($909 million) in the fourth quarter, largely stable compared to last year. That beat analysts' mean forecast of 9.67 billion crowns, LSEG's IBES data showed.
Atlas Copco proposed a dividend of 3.00 crowns per share to be paid for 2024, up from 2.80 crowns distributed last year.
Quarterly order intake grew 8%, or 4% on an organic basis, to 39.7 billion crowns compared to the same period in 2023, it said.
Its shares rose as much as 4.7% shortly after the results publication at 1100 GMT, having been broadly flat ahead of it. However, they shed those gains to trade 1.5% lower by 1215 GMT.
($1 = 11.0005 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Elviira Luoma in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi)
