HUSQVARNA FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST BRIGGS & STRATTON

Husqvarna Group in the U.S has taken legal action against Briggs & Stratton LLC (B&S).

In a statement Husqvarna said this comes after B&S announced that they would only deliver a very small portion of the engines for ride-on mowers that Husqvarna Group had ordered in advance of the 2022 season, mainly for North America.

At this late stage, said Husqvarna, their ability to secure an alternative supply of engines for the 2022 season is extremely limited. Therefore, to protect its customers and operations, Husqvarna Group on September 20th filed a lawsuit in South Carolina to compel B&S to deliver all engines covered by its orders.

Husqvarna issued a statement saying, "In a worst case scenario, the lack of engine supply could result in a loss of top line sales of up to approximately SEK 2 bn, mainly in 2022 with limited impact in Q4 2021. Husqvarna Group is optimistic, however, that the legal proceedings will have a satisfactory outcome, in which case there could be limited (or no) impact on operations, suppliers, customers and financial position.

"Given the early stage of these proceedings, and range of possible outcomes, it is too early to estimate the likely net EBIT impact of this supply dispute. It is, however, noteworthy that the affected product category has a lower profitability than the Group average."

Husqvarna Group said they would provide an update on the issue in conjunction with the Q3 interim report, which will be published on October 20th 2021.

At the time of publishing, Briggs & Stratton have not commented publicly.