Operating revenues in the third quarter totalled NOK 1 391.2 million, compared to NOK 1 412.7 million for the same period last year. The reduction in operating revenues is primarily due to a weaker Swedish krone compared to 2004, as approximately half of the Group's income is generated in Swedish subsidiaries. A weaker Swedish krone means that the figure for operating revenues measured in Norwegian krone is lower, despite the fact that the level of business activity among the Swedish subsidiaries has actually been somewhat higher.

 

Operating profit in the third quarter totalled NOK 34.9 million, compared to NOK 22.3 million for the same period in 2004. The improvement is due to the positive effect of a range of efficiency measures, better coordination of sawmill and planing plants in the Wood division and somewhat better prices for products in certain markets. A profit of NOK 3 million was also generated from the sale of non-industrial assets in the third quarter.

 

Group Managing Director Mr. Ole Salvén is still not completely satisfied with the third quarter result. - Even though this is traditionally a challenging quarter because of the disruption to production due to the summer holidays, the result should have been even higher. We are still not where we want to be in terms of our expectations. But some very promising improvements have been made, particularly for some of our Timber units. Overall, the sawmills have had an increase in profit totalling around NOK 6 million. Yet there are still some Timber and Wood units that bring down the overall profit figure. It will be necessary to continue the ongoing work to better coordinate operations and improve efficiency at a number of Moelven businesses, says Mr.  Salvén.

 

But the Group Managing Director admits that the third quarter results are pointing in the right direction in terms of the future outlook for the company. -A higher profit figure in the third quarter this year compared to last year provides our owners with the confidence they need to make needed investments that will make the company even stronger and in an even better position to take on tough competition for market shares in Scandinavia, says Mr. Salvén.

- One example of this is that we are now investing NOK 55 million in a new sorting plant and NOK 10 million in a new drying system at Moelven Valåsen AB in Karlskoga. The investment is designed to make Moelven's largest sawmill into a flexible and forward-looking high-speed plant that can quickly adapt the company's range of products to meet customers' increasingly changing demands, explains Mr. Salvén.

 

 

The report can be downloaded from the following link: