Stora Enso Interim Review January–June 2012: Operational EBIT at similar level to Q1 2012, lower year-on-year at EUR 141 (EUR 239) million mainly due to lower sales prices.
Cash flow from operations EUR 246 (EUR 207) million and liquidity EUR 1 240 (EUR 996) million, both stronger year-on-year.
Q2/2012 Results (compared with Q2/2011)
Sales at EUR 2 720 million were EUR 97 million lower than a year ago. Operational EBIT at EUR 141 million was EUR 98 million lower than a year ago. This represents an operational EBIT margin of 5.2% (8.5%).
Clearly lower sales prices in local currencies, mainly in paper and pulp grades, decreased operational EBIT by EUR 83 million and slightly lower deliveries and production decreased operational EBIT by EUR 14 million. Paper and board production was curtailed by 7% (6%) and sawnwood production by 6% (3%) to manage inventories.
CEO Jouko Karvinen:
“The reality, as for most of the past five years since 2007, is that the environment is not going to get any easier. We need to double our own efforts to get through the short-term and long-term challenges. Operationally, every Business Area needs not only to complete the announced restructuring programmes, and the literally hundreds of cost and productivity improvement efforts, but also to add more of them and implement them faster. We also must and will continue to adjust our manufacturing capacity to the market demand, as we have been doing since late in the second quarter. This is crucial not only to maximise our margins with a focused market and product mix, but also to further demonstrate that we can get through the market cycles with continued solid cash generation."
