Metsäliitto Group: Interim report January - September 2005 (28 October, 2005)
President and CEO Kari Jordan:
“The Metsäliitto Group continues to work towards greater profitability and competitiveness. In August we decided to combine our domestic and foreign wood procurement activities, while in September we approved the merger of Finnforest with Metsäliitto Cooperative. This restructuring is designed to achieve savings by making our activities simpler and more efficient. “The labour dispute, following which production resumed in July, had a negative impact on financial results, but despite this the three months to September showed a small profit. Compared with the previous quarter the result improved by more than EUR 160 million, although this was largely because the result for the second quarter was reduced by non-recurring items. “The forest industry's business environment remains challenging, and prices for many key products are at record low levels. We must constantly strive to achieve greater efficiency and competitiveness. We cannot wait for the business cycle to help put our profitability on the right track.” More information Chief Financial Officer Ilkka Pitkänen, tel. +358 10 469 4260 Senior Vice President, Group Communications, Lauri Peltola, tel. +358 10 469 5263 KEYFIGURES Unaudited figures 2005 2005 2005 2004 2004 2004 2004 01-sep 01-jun 01-mar 01-dec 01-sep 01-jun 01-mar Sales, MEUR 6 378 4 321 2 187 8 598 6 462 4 364 2 160 Operating profit, EUR 63 18 74 144 140 105 70 Result before tax, MEUR -118 -131 18 -76 -31 -10 -19 Result for the period, MEUR -37 -42 14 -24 -2 14 8 Return on capital employed, % 1.7 0.8 4.9 2.5 3.3 3.7 4.6 Return on equity, % -5.4 -8.7 1.5 -3.9 -2.8 -1.5 -2.2 Equity ratio, % 30.8 31.4 32.1 32.1 30.1 29.6 28.8 Gearing, % 131 131 123 120 136 145 146 Interest-bearing net liabilities, MEUR 3 476 3 453 3 440 3 336 3 503 3 713 3 694 Personnel at the end of period 29 520 30 767 29 050 28 783 29 209 30 791 29 410