1 Swedish-U.S. automaker Saab posted a 572-million-kronor (dlrs 77.3 million) profit last year, its first full year in the black since the venture was formed in 1990, the company said Monday.
2 Saab reported 20.5 percent increase in sales for the year, rising from 16.1 billion kronor (dlrs 2.17 billion) to 19.3 billion kronor (2.6 billion), the company said.
3 In all, Saab sold 88,700 cars worldwide last year, nearly a quarter in the United States.
4 Saab attributed the turnaround to several factors, including higher productivity, the successful launch of new models and improvement in exchange rates for the U.S. dollar.
5 The company's pretax profit last year -- the indicator used most often in Sweden -- was 702 million kronor (dlrs 94.86 million).
6 In the last five years, Saab undertook changes that are now beginning to pay off, said company president Keith Butler-Wheelhouse at a news conference.
7 'The main ingredients have been the concentration on core business . and the centralization of all major business,' Butler-Wheelhouse said.
8 But he added that the group's profits this year likely would be smaller, despite the decent showing in 1994.
9 Saab Automobile AB is a joint venture formed in early 1990 by General Motors Corp. and Saab Scania AB, with each company owning half of the company. The main plant is in Trollhaettan, Sweden.
10 Saab-Scania is wholly owned by Investor AB, which is controlled by Sweden's Wallenberg family.

Saab attributed the turnaround to several factors , including higher productivity , the successful launch of new models and improvement in exchange rates for the U . S . dollar .
improvement in exchange rates for the U . S . dollar
Why does the exchange rate help sales? 