Metsä Board Corporation’s operating result excluding non-recurring items for the first half of 2014 was EUR 64.4 million
Metsä Board Corporation Interim Report 1 January–30 June 2014, 31 July 2014 at 12:00 noon
Result for the first half of 2014
• Sales were EUR 995.2 million (Q1–Q2/2013: 1,037.8).
• Operating result excluding non-recurring items was EUR 64.4 million (56.2). Operating result including non-recurring items was EUR 75.7 million (63.7).
• Result before taxes excluding non-recurring items was EUR 40.8 million (22.4). Result before taxes including non-recurring items was EUR 49.9 million (29.8).
• Earnings per share excluding non-recurring items were EUR 0.10 (0.06). Earnings per share including non-recurring items were EUR 0.13 (0.08).
Result for the second quarter of 2014
• Sales were EUR 494.0 million (Q1/2014: 501.2).
• Operating result excluding non-recurring items was EUR 28.3 million (36.1). Operating result including non-recurring items was EUR 32.2 million (43.5).
• Result before taxes excluding non-recurring items was EUR 20.0 million (20.8). Result before taxes including non-recurring items was EUR 23.9 million (26.0).
• Earnings per share excluding non-recurring items were EUR 0.04 (0.06). Earnings per share including non-recurring items were EUR 0.05 (0.08).
Events during the second quarter of 2014
• Paperboard delivery volume increased compared to the previous quarter.
• Paper delivery volume decreased.
• Average market price levels for Metsä Board’s main products remained unchanged.
• Cash flow improved mainly due to reduced working capital, and net debt decreased considerably.
• Mika Joukio was appointed as the new CEO of Metsä Board as of 1 December 2014 at the latest, when Mikko Helander, the current CEO, will leave Metsä Board.
“Our paperboard deliveries continued to grow as planned in the second quarter, increasing by 7 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year. In line with our goals, North America recorded the highest growth rate. The sales volumes of our fresh forest fibre linerboard have increased steadily in North America, and our lightweight folding boxboards have been very well received.
In the second quarter, the result was burdened by scheduled maintenance shutdowns at the Husum integrated paper and pulp mill and Metsä Fibre’s Joutseno and Äänekoski mills, which were implemented successfully. Overall profitability in the second quarter was in line with our expectations, and our net debt decreased to EUR 540 million at the end of the second quarter thanks to our strong cash flow.
We successfully launched several new products: Carta Dedica, a lightweight board developed for food service and cup stock; Carta Allura for luxury packaging; and Modo Northern Light Coated, the newest linerboard product from Husum. These new products are excellent complements to Metsä Board’s existing product range.
Our paperboard order inflows have continued to strengthen recently, and we believe our paperboard deliveries will continue to increase in the third quarter.”
Mikko Helander, CEO
KEY FIGURES
| 2014 | 2014 | 2013 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | 2013 | |
| Q2 | Q1 | Q2 | Q1 | Q1-Q2 | Q1-Q2 | Q1-Q4 | |
| Sales, EUR million | 494.0 | 501.2 | 502.8 | 535.0 | 995.2 | 1,037.8 | 2,019.3 |
| EBITDA, EUR million | 55.9 | 69.2 | 52.7 | 61.4 | 125.1 | 114.1 | 214.8 |
| excl. non-recurring items, EUR million | 52.0 | 61.8 | 52.1 | 56.8 | 113.8 | 108.9 | 208.0 |
| EBITDA, % | 11.3 | 13.8 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 12.6 | 11.0 | 10.6 |
| excl. non-recurring items, % | 10.5 | 12.3 | 10.4 | 10.6 | 11.4 | 10.5 | 10.3 |
| Operating result, EUR million | 32.2 | 43.5 | 28.9 | 34.8 | 75.7 | 63.7 | 113.6 |
| excl. non-recurring items, EUR million | 28.3 | 36.1 | 26.0 | 30.2 | 64.4 | 56.2 | 104.4 |
| EBIT, % | 6.5 | 8.7 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 7.6 | 6.1 | 5.6 |
| excl. non-recurring items, % | 5.7 | 7.2 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 6.5 | 5.4 | 5.2 |
| Result before taxes, EUR million | 23.9 | 26.0 | 21.3 | 8.5 | 49.9 | 29.8 | 57.8 |
| excl. non-recurring items, EUR million | 20.0 | 20.8 | 18.5 | 3.9 | 40.8 | 22.4 | 48.6 |
| Result for the period, EUR million | 16.8 | 24.8 | 17.6 | 8.0 | 41.6 | 25.6 | 64.1 |
| excl. non-recurring items, EUR million | 12.9 | 20.6 | 15.3 | 3.4 | 33.5 | 18.7 | 55.4 |
| Result per share, EUR | 0.05 | 0.08 | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.13 | 0.08 | 0.19 |
| excl. non-recurring items, EUR | 0.04 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.10 | 0.06 | 0.17 |
| Return on equity, % | 8.0 | 11.6 | 8.5 | 3.8 | 9.9 | 6.1 | 7.5 |
| excl. non-recurring items, % | 6.1 | 9.6 | 7.4 | 1.6 | 8.0 | 4.5 | 6.5 |
| Return on capital employed, % | 8.5 | 11.2 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 10.0 | 7.1 | 7.0 |
| excl. non-recurring items, % | 7.5 | 9.9 | 6.1 | 6.8 | 8.8 | 6.3 | 6.4 |
| Equity ratio at end of period, % | 39.8 | 41.0 | 32.4 | 33.3 | 39.8 | 32.4 | 40.7 |
| Gearing ratio at end of period, % | 84 | 84 | 130 | 122 | 84 | 130 | 83 |
| Net gearing ratio at end of period, % | 65 | 69 | 74 | 69 | 65 | 74 | 70 |
| Shareholders' equity per share at end of period, EUR | 2.54 | 2.62 | 2.48 | 2.54 | 2.54 | 2.48 | 2.59 |
| Interest-bearing net liabilities, EUR million | 540.1 | 592.6 | 605.9 | 577.6 | 540.1 | 605.9 | 597.2 |
| Gross investments, EUR million | 14.0 | 4.7 | 21.5 | 9.2 | 18.7 | 30.7 | 66.9 |
| Deliveries, 1 000 tonnes | |||||||
| Cartonboard | 226 | 219 | 220 | 217 | 445 | 437 | 872 |
| Linerboard and Paper | 250 | 265 | 250 | 279 | 515 | 529 | 1,027 |
| Personnel at the end of period | 3,370 | 3,145 | 3,401 | 3,239 | 3,370 | 3,401 | 3,116 |
| EBITDA = Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and impairment charges | |||||||
The divestment of the holding in Metsä Group Treasury Oy in September 2013 improved Metsä Board’s equity ratio by approximately 5 percentage points and return on capital employed by almost 1 percentage point and reduced the company’s gross debt by more than EUR 300 million, compared to the actual figures for the second quarter of 2013.
Business environment and near-term outlook
Compared to the second quarter, the delivery volumes of folding boxboard and white-top fresh forest fibre linerboard are estimated to increase slightly in the third quarter of 2014. No material price changes are in sight at the moment.
The delivery volumes of uncoated fine paper, coated papers and market pulp in the third quarter of 2014 are expected to remain at approximately the same level as in the previous quarter. No material changes in the price of paper are in sight. The average price of Metsä Board’s market pulp deliveries is also expected to be stable over the next few months.
The annual maintenance shutdown at the Kemi integrated mill will have some negative impact in the third quarter of 2014.
Production costs in the third quarter of 2014 are expected to be approximately at the same level as in the previous quarter.
Metsä Board’s operating result, excluding non-recurring items is in the third quarter of 2014 expected to improve slightly from the second quarter of 2014.
Disclosure procedure
Metsä Board Corporation follows the disclosure procedure enabled by Standard 5.2b published by the Finnish Financial Supervision Authority and hereby publishes its Interim Report for January–June 2014 enclosed to this stock exchange release. Metsä Board's complete Financial Statements is attached to this release in pdf-format and is also available on the company's web site at www.metsaboard.com.
METSÄ BOARD CORPORATION
More information:
Markus Holm, CFO, tel. +358 (0)10 465 4913
Juha Laine, Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications, tel. +358 (0)10 465 4335
More information will be available from 1 p.m. on 31 July 2014. A conference call for investors and analysts will be held in English at 3 p.m. (EET). Conference call participants are requested to dial in and register a few minutes earlier on the following numbers:
Europe: +44 (0)20 7162 0025
USA: +1 334 323 6201
The conference ID is 945666.
Metsä Board is Europe’s leading producer of folding boxboard, the world’s leading manufacturer of coated white-top fresh forest fibre kraftliners and a major paper supplier. It offers premium solutions for consumer and retail packaging, graphics and office end-uses. The company’s sales network serves brand owners, carton printers, corrugated packaging manufacturers, printers, merchants and office suppliers. Metsä Board is part of Metsä Group and its shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. In 2013, the company’s sales totalled approximately EUR 2.0 billion. The company has approximately 3,100 employees.