Metsä Group’s comparable operating result in 2017 was EUR 566 million
Metsä Group financial statements 2017 8 February 2018 at 12:00 noon EET
JANUARY–DECEMBER 2017 (1–12/2016)
- Sales were EUR 5,040 million (4,658).
- Operating result was EUR 581 million (442). Comparable operating result was EUR 566 million (439).
- Result before tax was EUR 506 million (361). Comparable result before tax was EUR 491 million (357).
- Comparable return on capital employed was 12.3 per cent (10.2). Comparable return on capital employed excluding investments related to the bioproduct mill was 15.3 per cent (11.6).
- Cash flow from operations was EUR 905 million (504).
OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2017 (10–12/2016)
- Sales were EUR 1,328 million (1,175).
- Operating result was EUR 184 million (110). Comparable operating result was EUR 185 million (107).
- Result before tax was EUR 161 million (85). Comparable result before tax was EUR 162 million (82).
- Comparable return on capital employed was 14.9 per cent (9.8).
- Cash flow from operations was EUR 294 million (206).
EVENTS DURING THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2017
- In December, Metsä Group and Metsä Board raised their result guidance for the fourth quarter due to the stronger-than-expected pulp market.
- The foreign currency-denominated market price of long-fibre pulp and the market price of short-fibre pulp increased by 7 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, compared to the previous quarter.
- Metsä Wood decided to construct a new Kerto® LVL line at its Punkaharju mill in Finland.
- Sales prices of paperboard rose, but deliveries were at a lower level than in the previous quarter, mainly due to the seasonal decline in December.
- Difficult weather conditions had an effect on Metsä Forest’s fourth quarter result.
- Metsä Group announced its intention to build a visitor centre at the Äänekoski mill site.
- Metsäverkko, an online service for Metsä Group’s owner-members, was recognised by an innovation award from European agricultural cooperatives.
- The President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, inaugurated the Äänekoski bioproduct mill on 18 October 2017.
- Metsä Group’s future President and CEO, Ilkka Hämälä, was elected Chairman of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation.
EVENTS AFTER THE PERIOD
Due to suspected information security breach, Metsä Group and Metsä Board announced preliminary information of their sales and comparable operating result and Metsä Board’s earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2017 on 9 January 2018.
The suspected information security breach has not had financial impacts.
RESULT GUIDANCE FOR JANUARY–MARCH 2018
Metsä Group’s comparable operating result is in the first quarter of 2018 expected to be roughly at the same level as in the fourth quarter of 2017.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ PROPOSAL FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE PROFIT
Metsäliitto Cooperative’s Board of Directors has decided to propose that, due to the good result in 2017, 7.0 (6.0 per cent in 2016) per cent interest be paid on the statutory capital invested by its members for 2017, on additional members’ capital A 6.5 per cent (5.5) and on additional members’ capital B 2.5 per cent (2.5). The Board of Directors has furthermore proposed that EUR 250 million of retained earnings be transferred to the reserve for invested unrestricted equity.
The Board’s proposal will be discussed in March by Metsäliitto Cooperative’s Supervisory Board, which will issue a statement on the matter to the Representative Council convening in May.
President and CEO Kari Jordan:
“Metsä Group’ profitability in 2017 was good. Our result compared to the previous year improved particularly due to an increase in the price of pulp and positive development in the paperboard business. Our growth phase achieved many important milestones in 2017.
The world’s first next-generation bioproduct mill started up at Äänekoski, Finland, in August 2017. We followed the schedule and budget exactly. The mill’s start-up phase has progressed even better than we expected.
Last summer, we laid the foundation stone of the plywood mill in Estonia, set to be completed in the summer of 2018, and started up a new Kerto® LVL line at Lohja and an extrusion coating line at Husum paperboard mill. Converting the old paper machine hall at Äänekoski into a birch veneer mill and the renewal of the baking paper machine at the Düren mill proceeded well. Late last year, we also made the decision to increase Kerto® LVL production at the Punkaharju mill. The new line at Punkaharju will start up during the first half of 2019.
The volume of wood purchased has grown according to our plans. In 2017, we delivered approximately 32 million cubic metres of wood. We set another record in forest owners’ customer satisfaction and made plenty of new forest asset management agreements. In 2017, more than a quarter of wood trade and an even higher proportion of orders for forest management were made through digital channels. The value of the wood trade conducted in Metsä Group’s digital Metsäverkko service over a period of roughly two years totals more than EUR 200 million.
The responsibility for Metsä Group’s profit transferred to Ilkka Hämälä at the beginning of 2018. I will retire in April 2018, when Hämälä will take over as the President and CEO of Metsä Group. I began my work in Metsä Group in 2005. The transformation we began at the time translated into exiting printing and writing paper fully and, over the past five years or so, increasing investments in selected business operations. The transformation process has been significant, even on a global scale, and has resulted in a clear improvement in profitability and a strong balance sheet. Thanks to our growth investments, annual demand for Finnish wood has increased by roughly six million cubic metres.
The current outlook for the global economy is good. Finland’s economy has also picked up. The forest industry’s role as the backbone of the Finnish economy remains strong.”
KEY FIGURES
| 2017 | 2016 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| Condensed income statement, EUR million | 1–12 | 1–12 | 10–12 | 10–12 |
| Sales | 5 040.0 | 4 657.9 | 1 328.2 | 1 175.2 |
| Other operating income | 60.3 | 70.5 | 16.9 | 18.2 |
| Operating expenses | -4 269.7 | -4 041.8 | -1 090.5 | -1 030.2 |
| Depreciation and impairment losses | -249.7 | -244.3 | -70.4 | -53.5 |
| Operating result | 581.0 | 442.3 | 184.3 | 109.7 |
| Share of results from associated companies and joint ventures | 17.1 | -1.1 | 1.2 | 0.3 |
| Exchange gains and losses | -3.3 | -5.7 | -0.0 | -6.5 |
| Other net financial items | -88.5 | -74.9 | -24.4 | -18.4 |
| Result before income tax | 506.2 | 360.6 | 161.0 | 85.1 |
| Income tax | -102.3 | -80.7 | -36.5 | -16.9 |
| Result for the period | 403.9 | 279.9 | 124.5 | 68.2 |
| 2017 | 2016 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| Profitability | 1–12 | 1–12 | 10–12 | 10–12 |
| Operating result, EUR million | 581.0 | 442.3 | 184.3 | 109.7 |
| Comparable operating result | 566.1 | 438.6 | 184.9 | 106.5 |
| % of sales | 11.2 | 9.4 | 13.9 | 9.1 |
| Return on capital employed, % | 12.6 | 10.2 | 14.9 | 10.1 |
| Comparable return on capital employed | 12.3 | 10.2 | 14.9 | 9.8 |
| Return on equity, % | 14.5 | 11.2 | 17.2 | 10.7 |
| Comparable return on equity | 14.0 | 11.0 | 17.3 | 10.2 |
| 2017 | 2016 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| Financial position | 31.12. | 31.12. | 30.9. | 30.9. |
| Equity ratio, % | 45.0 | 43.9 | 43.4 | 44.0 |
| Net gearing ratio, % | 34 | 40 | 41 | 40 |
| Interest-bearing net liabilities, EUR million | 993 | 1 033 | 1 165 | 991 |
SEGMENTS
| Sales and Operating result 1–12/2017, EUR million | Wood Supply and Forest Services | Wood Products Industry | Pulp and Sawn Timber Industry | Paperboard Industry | Tissue and Cooking Papers |
| Sales | 1 634.4 | 459.9 | 1 875.7 | 1 848.6 | 1 013.6 |
| Other operating income | 3.8 | 6.8 | 22.6 | 29.3 | 3.8 |
| Operating expenses | -1 609.9 | -419.4 | -1 492.2 | -1 579.1 | -905.4 |
| Depreciation and impairment losses | -4.1 | -12.0 | -86.5 | -91.6 | -38.5 |
| Operating result | 24.3 | 35.3 | 319.5 | 207.1 | 73.5 |
| Items affecting comparability | - | -1.8 | 0.1 | -13.6 | 0.5 |
| Comparable operating result | 24.3 | 33.5 | 319.7 | 193.5 | 73.9 |
| % of sales | 1.5 | 7.3 | 17.0 | 10.5 | 7.3 |
NEAR-TERM OUTLOOK
Wood demand will focus on felling sites to be harvested when the ground is unfrozen and, in terms of energy wood, on crown wood. Difficult weather conditions will have an effect on the wood supply in the entire Baltic Sea area. This will increase the mill prices of wood at the beginning of the year.
Demand for forest management services is expected to remain good.
The demand for wood products is expected to remain good, which is reflected in order book levels higher than last year in both Kerto® LVL products and plywood products. The UK market is marked by uncertainty due to the effects of Brexit.
Global demand for, and the global prices of, pulp have continued to rise in January 2018, and there are no signs of significant negative changes to the market situation in the near future.
Overall demand for sawn timber is expected to remain good in most markets.
Growth in the demand for high-quality consumer packaging paperboard made from fresh fibre is expected to continue in market areas important for Metsä Board.
Metsä Board’s paperboard deliveries in January–March are expected to grow from the previous quarter. The market prices of folding boxboard and white kraftliners in local currencies are expected to rise as a result of the announced price increases in 2017.
In the tissue and cooking paper markets, demand is expected to remain stable in all market areas. Demand for tissue paper is expected to increase particularly in eastern Central Europe, and demand for cooking papers is expected to grow in Asia.
The weakening of the US dollar against the euro, including the impact of hedges, will have a negative effect on Metsä Group’s operating result in at least the first half of the year. Production costs in 2018 are expected to rise from the previous year.
EVENTS AFTER THE PERIOD
Due to suspected information security breach, Metsä Group and Metsä Board announced preliminary information of their sales and comparable operating result and Metsä Board’s earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2017 on 9 January 2018.
The suspected information security breach has not had financial impacts.
RESULT GUIDANCE FOR JANUARY–MARCH 2018
Metsä Group’s comparable operating result is in the first quarter of 2018 expected to be roughly at the same level as in the fourth quarter of 2017.
For further information, please contact:
Vesa-Pekka Takala, CFO, Metsä Group, and Deputy Managing Director of Metsäliitto Cooperative,
tel. +358 10 465 4260
Juha Laine, SVP, Communications, Metsä Group, tel. +358 10 465 4541
Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com
Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and cooking papers.
Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.0 billion in 2017, and it employs approximately 9,100 people. The Group operates in some 30 countries. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 104,000 Finnish forest owners.
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