Sandvik AB -- Report on the first quarter 2004

SANDVIKEN, Sweden, May 06, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- SANDVIK AB:

"Order intake and invoicing increased by 10% at fixed exchange rates for comparable units. Profit after net financial items rose 12% to SEK 1,430 M. The improvement is attributable to increased volumes and prices as well as higher productivity and capacity utilization."

"Sales volumes rose in all business areas. Market development was positive in NAFTA, in which parts of the American industry have a high capacity utilization. In Europe, total demand was largely unchanged, with a positive development in Northern and Eastern Europe, while the market situation in Southern Europe remained weak. In Asia, Africa and South America, demand continued to be strong," says Lars Pettersson, President and CEO of Sandvik.



 Key figures                             Q1     Q1  Change     Full-year
 SEK M                                 2004   2003       %          2003
 Order intake                        14 160 13 420      +6 1)     49 830
 Invoiced sales                      12 680 12 080      +5 2)     48 810

 Operating profit                     1 580  1 455      +9 3)      4 967
   %                                     12     12                    10

 Profit after financial items         1 430  1 281     +12         4 187
   %                                     11     11                     9

 Net profit                             988    841     +17         2 788
   %                                      8      7                     6
 Earnings per share, SEK 4)           11.70  14.00                 11.20
 Return on capital employed, % 4)      13.7   15.5                  13.4



 1)  +10 % at fixed exchange rates for comparable units.
 2)  +10 % at fixed exchange rates for comparable units.
 3)  +17 % taking into account that Q1 2003 was affected positively
     by an adapted application of the accounting recommendation for
     inventory valuation, an increase of SEK 100 M.
 4)  Most recent 12 months.
 5)  Excluding write down of goodwill, etc., related to Precision
     Twist Drill Inc., in Q4 2003, the return was 15.2% (14.9% for
     full-year 2003).

Sandviken, 6 May 2004

Sandvik AB; (publ)

Lars Pettersson President and CEO


 Appendicies:
 1.        Group summary
 2.        Invoicing and operating profit

The interim report for the first quarter of 2004 is unaudited. The next interim report will be published on 5 August covering the first six months of 2004.

For additional information, please call +46 (0)26-26 10 01.

A telephone conference will be held on 6 May, 16.30 p.m. For further information visit www.sandvik.com

Sandvik AB SE-811 81 Sandviken +46 (0)26-26 00 00 www.sandvik.com corp. reg. no: 556000-3468

Sandvik AB -- Report on the first quarter 2004

Mot-clé