Esselte Office Products sets new financial objectives

"Together with Leitz we build a new platform for continued and increased profitability of Esselte Office Products," stated Robert K. Scribner, President and CEO of Esselte Office Products when he presented the acquisition of Leitz Group today, the largest office supply manufacturer in Germany. Jan Kvarnström, President of Esselte Group, declared that now is the time for setting new objectives for Esselte Office Products. A sustained annual sales growth rate of at least ten percent through a combination of organic growth, expansion into new markets and acquisitions is the objective as well as an operating margin of eight percent by year 2001. This margin is now five percent. The return on capital employed year 2001 shall exceed 20 percent. The objective for cash flow from Esselte Office Products operations, the objective is to exceed 1 billion SEK before acquisitions already in the year 2000. "The combination of Esselte Office Products and Leitz will be the largest office supply manufacturer in the world and this creates economies of scale and a more extended reach. This gives us the means to go for these more aggressive objectives which are well within reach," concludes Robert K.Scribner. Esselte Group consists of two independent business areas - Esselte Office Products and Meto - which are global market leaders in office products and labeling systems, respectively. The Parent Company, Esselte AB, focuses on creating added value by being an active owner and implementing structural measures to streamline operations. For further information please contact Bengt Wikander, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, at Esselte AB. Phone +46 8 545 21 900 (switchboard), +46 8 545 21 904 (direct line) or +46 708 92 24 31 (mobile).