Stable fourth quarter results impacted by production problems
CEO Per Lindberg comments on the development during Q4 2013:
“We have closed the books for the first successful year as the new company BillerudKorsnäs. It has been a year of change and I am very pleased to see that the integration is proceeding very well. The underlying performance in the fourth quarter was strong even if the production towards the end of the year suffered from some unexpected incidents. Our adjusted operating profit reached SEK 226 million corresponding to an adjusted operating margin of 5%. This includes some additional negative impact from the planned maintenance shutdowns and the previously announced costs for production problems of SEK 70 million.
During the quarter business has been relatively stable. We mostly saw stable demand, however with some typical year-end destocking. Prices were more or less stable as well. The start of 2014 has been quite good and we will run production on full capacity in the first quarter. The market will be more competitive and we are anticipating some pressure on prices in local currency for some of the products within business areas Containerboard and Packaging Paper beyond the first quarter.
We continue to realise synergies in a rapid pace, and we continue to expect to reach the target of SEK 530 million annual run-rate reduction during 2014. The integration efforts in 2014 are moving into the next phase when many new systems are implemented and new ways of working are introduced. Integration will therefore continue to be a high priority.
In November we had our first Capital Markets Day where we communicated how we are building a company to deliver value to customers and shareholders. It was well received and gave us further confidence to continue in building a value-creating world-class company for the long term.”
For further information, please contact:
Per Lindberg, President and CEO +46 (0)8 553 335 00
Susanne Lithander, CFO, +46 (0)8 553 335 00
The information is such that BillerudKorsnäs AB (publ) is obligated to publish under the Swedish Securities Market Act. Submitted for publication at 07.02 CET, 18 February 2014.