By James Wells

MOORABBIN: Asko Australia told Current.com.au today that the local subsidiary of the Swedish whitegoods manufacturer is a completely separate entity to Antonio Merloni s.p.a. and it is business as usual.

“Asko is completely separate entity to Antonio Merloni s.p.a. with a completely different financial structure. There is no connection other than ownership with Asko Australia wholly owned by Asko Sweden which is owned by Antonio Merloni,” Asko Australia managing director, Richard Sim told Current.com.au.

“Asko Sweden is an independent arm of the company and as such Asko Australia is self funded and not funded in any way by Antonio Merloni. We would like to reassure our retailers that it is business as usual.”

Sim told Current.com.au that the local business has enjoyed good sales in a challenging market environment.

“We have had three good quarters and sales are up by eight per cent year on year. Globally, the Asko network led by Scandinavia, the US and Australia is up by a similar amount in percentage terms.

“We have been in Australia since 1972 and we have no intention of leaving the market in the short term or at any stage in the future.”

Asko Appliances was purchased by Antonio Merloni in mid-2000 for a reported price of $US100 million.