STOCKHOLM, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Autoliv , the world's biggest producer of seat belts and airbags, reported a bigger than expected jump in fourth-quarter pre-tax profit and forecast double-digit sales and earnings growth in the first quarter.
The company said in a statement its profit after financial items in the last quarter of 2002 was $77 million against market consensus of $73 million and $48.5 million the year before.
Sales were $1.2 billion, beating expectations of $1.1 billion.
"Autoliv's sales and earnings for the first quarter are expected to increase by at least 15 percent compared to the same quarter of 2002," the Sweden-based company said.