Sales increased 3.0% to EUR 2\u00a0585 (2\u00a0509) million, making Q3 the seventh consecutive quarter of sales growth. The growth was primarily due to favourable prices and active product mix management.
\nOperational EBIT increased 23.4% to EUR 358 (290) million, due to favourable prices and active product mix management.
\nBalance 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).
\nOperational ROCE was 16.7% (13.9%), well above the strategic target of 13% for the fifth consecutive quarter.<\/p>\n
Q1-Q3\/2018 (year-on-year)<\/p>\n
Sales of EUR 7\u00a0828 (7\u00a0534) million increased 3.9%. Excluding the divested Puumerkki, sales increased 5.4%.
\nOperational EBIT of EUR 1\u00a0054 (724) million increased 45.6%, mainly due to favourable prices and active product mix management.<\/p>\n
Outlook<\/p>\n
Q4\/2018 sales are estimated to be slightly higher than the amount of EUR 2\u00a0585 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.<\/p>\n
A negative EUR 10 million impact on operational EBIT in Q4\/2018 is expected due to production restrictions at uncoated fine paper mill in Nym\u00f6lla, 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.<\/p>\n
Key figures<\/p>\n
EUR million
\nQ3\/18
\nQ3\/17
\nChange %
\nQ3\/18-Q3\/17
\nQ2\/18
\nChange %
\nQ3\/18-Q2\/18
\nQ1-Q3\/18
\nQ1-Q3\/17
\nChange %
\nQ1-Q3\/18\u2013Q1-Q3\/17
\n2017
\nSales
\n2\u00a0585
\n2\u00a0509
\n3.0%
\n2\u00a0664
\n-3.0%
\n7 828
\n7\u00a0534
\n3.9%
\n10\u00a0045
\nOperational \u00a0 EBITDA
\n502
\n432
\n16.3%
\n466
\n7.8%
\n1 472
\n1\u00a0160
\n26.9%
\n1\u00a0587
\nOperational EBIT
\n358
\n290
\n23.4%
\n327
\n9.4%
\n1 054
\n724
\n45.6%
\n1\u00a0004
\nOperational EBIT \u00a0 margin
\n13.8%
\n11.6%<\/p>\n
12.3%<\/p>\n
13.5%
\n9.6%<\/p>\n
10.0%
\nOperating profit \u00a0 (IFRS)
\n363
\n270
\n34.3%
\n317
\n14.3%
\n1 034
\n668
\n54.8%
\n904
\nProfit before tax \u00a0 excl. IAC
\n305
\n244
\n25.0%
\n285
\n7.0%
\n923
\n588
\n56.9%
\n826
\nProfit before tax
\n305
\n224
\n36.1%
\n257
\n18.6%
\n895
\n533
\n67.9%
\n742
\nNet profit for \u00a0 the period
\n204
\n191
\n6.7%
\n213
\n-4.3%
\n690
\n441
\n56.4%
\n614
\nNet \u00a0 interest-bearing liabilities
\n2\u00a0172
\n2476
\n-12.3%
\n2 442
\n-11.1%
\n2\u00a0172
\n2\u00a0476
\n-12.3%
\n2\u00a0253
\nOperational ROCE
\n17%
\n13.9%<\/p>\n
15.5%<\/p>\n
16.6%
\n11.4%<\/p>\n
11.9%
\nEarnings per \u00a0 share (EPS) excl. IAC, EUR
\n0.31
\n0.27
\n13.3%
\n0.31
\n-2.2%
\n0.97
\n0.63
\n53.8%
\n0.89
\nEPS (basic), EUR
\n0.27
\n0.24
\n12.9%
\n0.28
\n-2.5%
\n0.90
\n0.57
\n57.7%
\n0.79
\nNet debt\/last 12 \u00a0 months\u2019 operational EBITDA ratio
\n1.1
\n1.6<\/p>\n
1.3<\/p>\n
1.1
\n1.6<\/p>\n
1.4
\nAverage number of \u00a0 employees
\n26\u00a0545
\n27\u00a0001
\n-1.7%
\n26\u00a0155
\n1.5%
\n26\u00a0059
\n26\u00a0371
\n-1.2%
\n20\u00a0206<\/p>\n
Stora Enso\u2019s CEO Karl-Henrik Sundstr\u00f6m comments on the third quarter 2018 results:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The pace of our transformation continues to be high. The investment in a new cross laminated timber (CLT) unit at the Gruv\u00f6n 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.<\/p>\n
I would like to end by highlighting three things:<\/p>\n
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 TR\u00c4 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Finally, we are providing material to the world\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
As always, I would like to thank our customers for their business, our employees for their dedication, and our investors for their trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Events today:<\/p>\n
1) Press conference in Helsinki at 11.00 EEST
\nStora Enso\u2019s CEO Karl-Henrik Sundstr\u00f6m 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
2) Webcast and conference call for analysts and investors at 14.00 EEST
\nThe 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 Sundstr\u00f6m, CFO Seppo Parvi, and SVP, Head of Investor Relations Ulla Paajanen, and may be accessed at https:\/\/edge.media-server.com\/m6\/p\/r4xcvqzh.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sales increased 3.0% to EUR 2\u00a0585 (2\u00a0509) 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[11286,8793],"supplier":[551],"class_list":["post-58185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biocomposites","tag-biomaterials","supplier-stora-enso"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58185\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58185"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=58185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}