SKF less upbeat on sales volumes so far in Q1

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - SKF , the world's biggest bearings maker, has seen sales volumes develop less favourably than expected in the early months of the year, a spokeswoman for the group said on Friday.

SKF has forecast slightly higher demand in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of last year. It commented on its outlook after its shares eased in the wake of remarks by its top executive at a conference in London.

"Sequentially it looks a bit more flattish and not up as much as we had thought," SKF spokeswoman Ingalill Ostman said.

"And it is also affected by the mix of business which of course affects margins."

"The manufacturing level is not running below sales and is still up slightly compared to the fourth quarter last year and year-on-year," she added.

Ostman said the company had seen weaker development in its general industry segment which had been affected by among other things harsh weather conditions in North America and caution in the European market.

"One might also speculate that it is affected a little bit by what is happening in Ukraine," she said.

(Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom; writing by Niklas Pollard)