Text 11.

Read the text and do the assignments. While reading, find words and expressions in the text that mean: прибыль ниже ожидаемой; по сравнению с; аналитик; акции упали; заказы на; единица товара; предыдущий квартал; находиться на уровне; устойчивый рынок; заносить (в бухгалтерскую книгу); приобретать; захватить долю рынка; поглощение (фирмы); удерживать (в своих руках); опрашивать.

Scania Disappoints With Profit For First Quarter

Stockholm – Scania reported a lower-than-expected profit for the first quarter.

Profit after financial items was 955 million Swedish kronor, compared with 1.11 billion kronor a year earlier, and net profit was 661 million kronor, compared with 770 million kronor, on sales that rose 8% to 12.68 billion kronor. “It is clearly a disappointing result,” said Anders Trapp, analyst at Enskilda Securities.

In Thursday trading, Scania shares fell 1.6%, or 3.50 kronor, to 214.50 kronor.

Orders for Scania trucks and buses totalled 10,222 units, up 24% from a year earlier. In the previous quarter, orders stood at 11,036. Scania said the strong market for trucks in Europe continued into April.

“An improvement in the results must come later, perhaps in the second quarter,” Mr. Trapp said.

Scania had been expected to post a profit after financial items of 1.16 billion kronor on sales of 11.79 billion kronor, according to analysts polled by Reuters. Scania took a 100 million kronor hit in the quarter because of the euro’s weakness, but some analysts were mystified as to why the bottom line came in so low.

While Scania gained market share for heavy trucks in Europe, taking 15.6% of the market compared with 15.2%, in Latin America it lost ground.

Brazil, Scania fifth-largest market for trucks, showed a 15% fall in registration of the company’s trucks, and the company’s market share dipped to 27.6% from 35.8%. This was despite Latin America’s truck market rising in the first quarter, and it is expected to improve further during the year.

Volkswagen acquired 34% of the votes and 18.7% of the capital of Scania last month, following the rejection by the European Union of a takeover of Scania by Swedish rival Volvo on competition grounds.

Volvo, which earlier this week took over Renault’s truck business, retains 45.6% of Scania’s capital and 30.7% of its votes.

Exercise 11-1. Decide if these statements are true or false according to the text. Change any which are false.

1. The first quarter has not been very successful for Scania.

2. Sales and profits have risen.

3. In Thursday trading, the company lost a lot of money.

4. This year, more customers want to have Scania trucks.

5. Scania’s operations in Latin America were as successful as its operations in Europe.

6. In Latin America, the company’s market share has increased.

Exercise 11-2. Answer the questions.

1. What does Scania produce?

2. According to the text, how many units did orders for Scania’s products total?

3. What profit for the first quarter did the company report? What profit had been expected?

4. Was it a disappointing result? Why / why not?

5. Is the market for trucks strong or weak in Europe? In Latin America?

6. How big is Scania’s market share in Europe? In Brazil?

Exercise 11-3. Translate the sentences into English paying attention to the phrases underlined.

1. В предыдущем квартале компания получила прибыль ниже ожидаемой. Как вы это можете объяснить?

2. По сравнению с 76 тыс. долларов чистой прибыли в 2000 году, 2001 год был для фирмы менее удачным. Аналитики отмечают, что чистая прибыль составила всего лишь 31 тыс. долларов.

3. Заказы на продукцию нашей компании составили в общем 4500 единиц товара.

4. На рынке хлебобулочной продукции в Твери жестокая конкуренция. Основные участники этого рынка – крупные хлебокомбинаты. Небольшие частные пекарни занимают крошечную долю этого рынка. Вряд ли их роль возрастет в ближайшие годы.

5. Доходы компании возросли по сравнению с прошлым годом.

6. На торгах в среду акции компании упали на 3.5%.

7. По словам ряда аналитиков, компания N. может быть поглощена в ближайшее время крупной торговой корпорацией.

8. Акции компании «Афанасий-пиво» были приобретены московской инвестиционной фирмой «Атон».

9. Валютный рынок в этом месяце довольно устойчив.

10. В России новая европейская валюта евро менее популярна, чем доллар. Это можно объяснить не слабостью евро, а тем, что люди используют доллары как средство сбережения и накопления уже много лет.

Exercise 11-4. In your own words.

1. Do you agree with №10 in Exercise 11-3? Why/why not?

2. What are the main problems Russian car industry has these days? What do you think should be done to solve them?