Swedish industrial group Volvo, the world's second-largest truck maker by sales, posted a second consecutive quarterly loss on Friday as demand collapsed amid the financial crisis.

The Gothenburg-based company posted a net loss of 4.23 billion kronor (514 million dollars, 390 million euros) for the three months ended March 31, down from a profit of 4.20 billion kronor a year earlier.

The loss was almost double the amount forecast by analysts in a poll conducted by Dow Jones Newswires and shares in the group dived 9.3 percent to 49.90 kronor at the start of trading.

The price of Volvo shares later gained back some ground and were down by 7.27 percent at 1045 GMT to 51.00 kronor on the Stockholm exchange, in an overall market down by 1.53 percent.

"Demand weakened sharply in all markets during the first quarter," chief executive Leif Johansson said in a statement, adding that the company was slashing costs in response to a fall in demand.

Volvo announced 1,500 job cuts on Wednesday, mirroring cost-saving measures implemented by market leader in the truck market, Germany's Daimler.

Revenue fell 27 percent to 56 billion kronor from 76.56 billion in the same period last year. The group swung to an operating loss of 4.53 billion kronor, from a 6.49-billion-kronor profit last year.

Order intake for trucks "continued to be very weak" in the quarter, Volvo said. It said the net order intake, which takes into account cancelations, plunged 65 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008.

In Europe, Volvo's biggest truck market, net orders for trucks dropped 71 percent to 7,494 vehicles. In Asia, the second-biggest market, net orders fell 70 percent to 5,712 trucks, and in North America they fell 49 percent to 2,869.

Johansson said that the company would cut production in the second quarter as a result.

"To further reduce inventories and protect prices on our products, which is key for our long-term profitability, we will further reduce production rates in most plants during the second quarter," he said.