Whirlpool Corp posted a lower net profit for the quarter on Wednesday due to weak Brazilian sales and a strong U.S. dollar.
The company announced that it had initiated capacity reduction and cost cutting activities. Its acquisitions contributed to more sales, but the actions were more than offset by the unfavorable exchange in currency against the strong dollar.
Whirlpool the largest maker in the world of home appliances reported net income during the second quarter of $177 million equal to $2.21 per share, which is down from the same quarter last year of $179 million equal to $2.25 per share.
The exchange rate for currency negatively affected the sales in the region in North America, but they were up at to $2.7 billion, said the company.
Latin America Whirlpool reported net sales during the second quarter of just over $900 million, which was down from sales of $1.1 billion for the same quarter one year ago, as soft demand continued across Brazil which dragged on its profits, said the company.
Shipments for the full year across the region of Latin America were expected to drop by 15%, said the company. Whirlpool EMEA posted net sales for the second quarter of $1.3 billion in compared to $700 million during the same period the previous year, which represented an increase of more than 79%.
In trading before the bell on Wednesday, Whirlpool stock was up by almost 1.9%.
The U.S. dollar continues to be strong against a host of foreign currencies. It strength has cut into the sales and earnings of most businesses that have international operations as the sales are reduced once they are converted back to dollars.
