ATRIA'S SWEDISH SUBSIDIARY LITHELLS AB C
Atria Group plc STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 17 MARCH 2004 AT 11:00
ATRIA'S SWEDISH SUBSIDIARY LITHELLS AB COMPLETES THE MERGER OF THE BUSINESS FUNCTIONS OF SAMFOOD AB AND ATRIA LITHELLS AB On 1 September 2002, Atria Group plc's Swedish subsidiary Lithells AB acquired the business operations of Samfood AB. The large-scale programme that was then launched to merge and develop their business functions was almost fully seen to completion successfully in 2003 and Lithells AB's profitability improved significantly. The last of the extensive development measures related to the merger of business functions comprises an investment of slightly over EUR 2.3 million in sausage production at Atria Lithells AB's plant in Sköllersta. The investment will be completed in early summer and enables the transfer of the remainder of the Malmö plant's sausage production to the Sköllersta plant. The transfer of production operations will take place in the early autumn, after the summer's sausage season is over. This will yield a major improvement in operational efficiency and strengthen the specialisation of the plants. In addition, Atria Lithells AB will make further investments in upgrading the productivity of operations in the near future, such as in the case of convenience foods production in Mälmö and the retail-packed meat unit in Årsta, Stockholm. In 2004, Lithells AB will invest a total of EUR 6 million to develop its operations. The Sköllersta plant will specialise in sausage production and mincemeat and whole-meat products, the Malmö plant in convenience foods, cold cuts and bacon, and the Årsta plant in Stockholm in retail-packed meat production. At the Malmö plant, Atria Lithells AB will start up co-determination procedures related to the investments and the improvement of productivity. The co- determination procedures will involve the reduction of an estimated 60 jobs at the Malmö plant during the present year. It is calculated that the efficiency improvement measures related to the co-determination procedures will have a combined effect on earnings of about EUR 2.2 million at the annual level. The effect on earnings will materialise in full as from the beginning of 2005. ATRIA GROUP PLC Seppo Paatelainen President DISTRIBUTION Helsinki Exchanges Principal media