STOCKHOLM -- Veoneer, the Swedish auto supplier with a major stake in self-driving technology development, on Friday reported a quarterly operating loss and a drop in revenue, but said results had been slightly better than its internal expectations.
The company, which was spun off from airbag maker Autoliv last summer, said its quarterly operating loss expanded to $137 million from a loss of $48 million a year earlier, in line with the mean analysts' forecast according to data from Refinitiv.
Revenue fell 14.5 percent to $489 million.
Veoneer said it expected an operating loss improvement during the second half of the year versus the first half, while still seeing a steeper organic sales decline for the full year than previously forecast.
CEO Jan Carlson noted in his remarks that the company raised $627 million in additional capital during the quarter. He also echoed the growing chorus of automotive and technology experts who now believe fully operational self-driving vehicles are still a decade away.
"The fusion of the automotive and technology industries is continuing, and this quarter we saw the pace of change accelerating, with new alliances and partnerships being formed on almost a weekly basis," Carlson said in a statement. "Industry announcements and statements during the quarter also confirmed that the main trend for the decade to come is collaborative driving, with fully autonomous vehicles only playing a significant role towards the end of the next decade."
Veoneer shares rose 1.85 percent to $18.13 in late afternoon trading in New York.
Reuters and Philip Nussel contributed to this report.
