Vaahto Group reports 3Q operating profit of Euro 0.7 million

Jul 01, 2011. /Lesprom Network/. Vaahto Group’s turnover for September 1, 2010, to May 31, 2011, was Euro 40.4 million (compared with Euro 26.2 million for the corresponding period in the previous fiscal year), with an operating loss of Euro 0.6 million. Turnover grew by 54% from the reference period, and the operating result was better than in the comparative period, as the company said in a press release received by Lesprom Network. The Group’s turnover for the 3Q (March 1 to May 31, 2011) was Euro 15.5 million, with an operating profit of Euro 0.7 million. The Group’s order book on May 31, 2011, totaled Euro 25.4 million. Vaahto Group’s result is expected to improve significantly from the previous fiscal year’s figure, and the full-year operating profit is expected to be slightly positive. The Pulp & Paper Machinery division’s turnover for September 1, 2010 – May 31, 2011, was Euro 28.8 million, with an operating profit of Euro 0.4 million. Turnover grew by 72% from the reference period’s level, and the operating result was clearly better. The market situation for the Pulp & Paper Machinery division has remained good. In the project business, the most significant new orders in the 3Q of the fiscal period (March 1 to May 31, 2011) were the pulp dryer rebuild for Stora Enso’s pulp mill in Imatra and the modernization of the press section of the board machine for Stora Enso’s Inkeroinen mill. Furthermore, in June, after the third quarter ended, the division received an order for modernization of headboxes in a board machine from Henan Xinhai in China. The market situation for the Service business improved in the course of the spring, and the outlook for the final quarter of the fiscal period is good. The Process Machinery division’s turnover for September 1, 2010 – May 31, 2011, was Euro 11.6 million, with an operating loss of Euro 1 million. The turnover increased by 21% from that of the reference period, but the result was still lower than the comparative figure. The result was affected by the poor profitability of the vessel business. For the most part, the market situation for the division’s vessel business remained weak during the period under review. The number of projects in the offer phase is moderate, but few projects have entered the decision stage and the price level has been weak. The order book of the vessel business turned to a slight increase at the end of the period, and the prospects for the last quarter of the fiscal year have improved. The development of the Process Machinery division’s agitator business has been in line with targets during the review period, and the market situation is expected to remain strong. Vaahto Group implemented a reorganization of its process machinery business on June 1, 2011, and combined the agitator businesses of the Group into the Mixing Technology –business unit. The goal is to utilize synergy effects, streamline processes, and strengthen the market position. The companies responsible for the Group’s agitator business are Japrotek Oy Ab, from Finland, Stelzer Rührtechnik International GmbH, from Germany. Vaahto Group is a globally operating high technology company serving process industry in the fields of pulp and paper machinery and process machinery.