STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Husqvarna <HUSQb.ST> reported on Tuesday a slightly smaller increase than expected in second-quarter operating profit as savings and price hikes helped offset subdued demand due to a slow start of the gardening season.
Operating profit in the group's seasonally important second quarter was 2.13 billion crowns (182.04 million pounds) against a year-ago 1.93 billion. Analysts had on average forecast a profit of 2.15 billion crowns, according to Refinitiv estimates.
The world's biggest maker of outdoor power tools such as lawn mowers and trimmers does the bulk of its business towards the end of the first quarter and in the second - ahead of and during peak gardening season.
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; editing by Niklas Pollard)
