Stora Enso's Interim Report January-September 2018: Another Quarter of Profitable Growth

HELSINKI, Oct. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- INTERIM REPORT 26 October 2018 at 9.30 EEST

Q3/2018 (year-on-year)

• Sales increased 3.0% to EUR 2 585 (2 509) million, making Q3 the seventh consecutive quarter of sales growth. The growth was primarily due to favourable prices and active product mix management.

• Operational EBIT increased 23.4% to EUR 358 (290) million, due to favourable prices and active product mix management.

• Balance sheet continued to strengthen, and net debt was reduced by EUR 304 million. The net debt to operational EBITDA ratio improved significantly to 1.1 (1.6).

• Operational ROCE was 16.7% (13.9%), well above the strategic target of 13% for the fifth consecutive quarter.

Q1-Q3/2018 (year-on-year)

• Sales of EUR 7 828 (7 534) million increased 3.9%. Excluding the divested Puumerkki, sales increased 5.4%.

• Operational EBIT of EUR 1 054 (724) million increased 45.6%, mainly due to favourable prices and active product mix management.

Outlook

Q4/2018 sales are estimated to be slightly higher than the amount of EUR 2 585 million recorded in the third quarter of 2018, and operational EBIT is expected to be in line with or somewhat lower than the EUR 358 million recorded in the third quarter of 2018.

A negative EUR 10 million impact on operational EBIT in Q4/2018 is expected due to production restrictions at uncoated fine paper mill in Nymölla, Sweden. This is because water at a nearby lake, which supplies the water for mill operations, is at too low a level. The impact of annual maintenance shutdowns in the fourth quarter is expected to be similar to the third quarter of 2018. These impacts are included in the above outlook.

Key figures

Stora Enso's CEO Karl-Henrik Sundström comments on the third quarter 2018 results:

"We have now delivered our seventh consecutive quarter of sales growth. With a sales increase of 3%, or close to 5% excluding the divested Puumerkki, we continue our path of sustainable profitable growth. We see the results of our active work on product mix and pricing. Despite challenges for the Consumer Board division, we are delivering a 23% increase in operational EBIT and an operational EBIT margin of almost 14%. This shows the strength of our portfolio. All things considered, operational EBIT is expected to be clearly higher in 2018 compared to 2017.

Consumer Board, Packaging Solutions, Biomaterials and Paper divisions reported sales growth. Packaging Solutions and Biomaterials divisions delivered all-time high operational EBIT. For Wood Products, it was a record high operational EBIT in a third quarter. In the quarter, Paper stands out with strong sales growth, solid profitability and cash flow.

We continue to strengthen our balance sheet and net debt/ EBITDA was reduced from 1.6 to 1.1. For the fifth consecutive quarter, operational ROCE is well above our strategic target. On the whole, the direction is right.

The pace of our transformation continues to be high. The investment in a new cross laminated timber (CLT) unit at the Gruvön sawmill is proceeding on time. We are also investing in a Biocomposite Competence Center to further accelerate the replacement of fossil-based plastics with renewable materials.

I would like to end by highlighting three things:

We have been awarded as the most start-up-friendly company in Finland 2018. An example of our work with start-ups is a recent agreement with TRÄ Group, who has been part of our Accelerator programme. We have a joint ambition to improve the construction efficiency and increase digitalisation in the building industry. We also continue our collaboration with the start-up company Sulapac with the ambition of replacing non-renewable packaging components with renewable ones for liquid packaging applications. Our target is to launch new products by end of the first quarter of 2019.

From among 3 000 public companies, we have been ranked number 1 in Finland and number 12 globally for gender balance and gender equality. The ranking is made by Equileap, a leading organisation providing data and insights on gender equality in the corporate sector.

Finally, we are providing material to the world's largest engineered timber office building, located in Brisbane, Australia. In total, the building is using over 6 000 cubic metres of Stora Enso CLT and glulam. With this, the amount of carbon that will be stored equals the average annual emissions of more than 1 600 cars. We play an important role in driving a fossil-free future via the bioeconomy.

As always, I would like to thank our customers for their business, our employees for their dedication, and our investors for their trust."

Events today:

1) Press conference in Helsinki at 11.00 EEST

Stora Enso's CEO Karl-Henrik Sundström and CFO Seppo Parvi will present the results at the press conference which will be webcast. The event, hosted by EVP, Communications Ulrika Lilja, will be held in English and take place at Stora Enso's Head Office, Kanavaranta 1, Helsinki at 11.00 EEST (10.00 CEST, 9.00 UK time, 4.00 EDT). The webcast may be accessed at

https://storaenso.videosync.fi/2018-10-26-q3/register

.

2) Webcast and conference call for analysts and investors at 14.00 EEST

The webcast and conference call for analysts and investors will take place at 14.00 EEST (13.00 CEST, 12.00 UK time, 7.00 EDT). It will be hosted by CEO Karl-Henrik Sundström, CFO Seppo Parvi, and SVP, Head of Investor Relations Ulla Paajanen, and may be accessed at https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/r4xcvqzh.

Those analysts and investors who wish to ask questions should join the conference call (details below). All participants can follow the presentation over the webcast.

Dial-in details for the analyst and investor conference call:

UK: +44 (0)330-336-9127

Finland: +358 (0)9-7479-0361

Sweden: +46 (0)8-5664-2753

USA: +1-323-794-2093

Confirmation Code: 6879660

The links to the webcasts are also available on the Stora Enso website: storaenso.com/investors

This release is a summary of Stora Enso's Interim Report January–September 2018. The complete report is attached to this release as a pdf file. It is also available on the company website at storaenso.com/investors.

Part of the bioeconomy, Stora Enso is a leading global provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper. We believe that everything that is made from fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Stora Enso has some 26 000 employees in over 30 countries. Our sales in 2017 were EUR 10 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY). storaenso.com/investors

STORA ENSO OYJ 

For further information, please contact:

Ulla Paajanen
SVP, Investor Relations
tel. +358-40-763-8767

Ulrika Lilja

EVP, Communications

tel. +46-72-221-9228

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The following files are available for download: