Electrolux, the world’s second-biggest appliances maker, has reported lower than expected third-quarter adjusted operating profit, sending its shares down 10%.

The Swedish company has begun delivering quarterly profit again as its North American arm has picked up after years of holding back group earnings owing to high costs, competition from market leader Whirlpool and underperformance at its US factories.

However, Electrolux is also contending with competition from lower-priced rivals, such as China’s Midea, which have proved increasingly attractive to consumers squeezed by high interest rates.

“While market conditions remained challenging in Europe and North America, we continued to make progress on our cost initiatives,” said CEO Jonas Samuelson, who is due to retire at the end of the year.

“The market in Europe continued to be predominantly replacement driven and was relatively stable, with high promotional intensity,” he said.

The company reiterated that weak price expectations and other factors are expected to have a negative impact on the fourth quarter.

Shares in Electrolux fell 10% in early trade, taking their decline this year to 14%.

Operating profit excluding non-recurring items rose to 717 million crowns ($67.8m) from 314 million crowns a year earlier, against an 855 million crown mean forecast in an LSEG poll of analysts of 855 million.