Swedish white goods maker Electrolux beats profit expectations as demand picks up quicker than anticipated.

• Electrolux warns of rising raw material prices
• Obama’s ‘green plan’ boosts Swedish companies

Electrolux, the world's second biggest producer of electrical appliances behind Whirlpool of the US, swung to a forecast-beating first-quarter net profit with a better-than-expected recovery on the US market.

"Demand in our most important markets has recovered somewhat more quickly than we anticipated. This is primarily true of the US market, which showed strong growth in March" chief executive officer Hans Stranberg said. "For the whole of Western Europe, we note a certain increased demand for the first time after ten quarters of decreases".

Looking ahead, market demand for appliances in it's main markets is expected to continue to grow throughout the rest of 2010.

"Although there is still great uncertainty and many things can happen in the remaining part of the year, 2010 could be the year we approach our goal of an operating margin of 6%," Hans Stranberg said.

It made a net profit of 911 million kronor ($127.3 million), compared to a net loss of 346 million kronor a year earlier and analysts’ expectations of a 609 million-krona profit.

"Importantly, both the U.S. and European markets surprise on the upside, and that's really important", Stefan Cederberg, an analyst at SEB, told Dow Jones.

Hans Stråberg also warned that prices of certain raw materials continued to rise.

"When the global economy picks up the pace, we expect even higher raw-material prices," he said.