Stora Enso’s 1Q 2018 sales were Euro 2 579 million, an increase of Euro 82 million, or 3.3%, compared to the same period a year ago. Sales increased primarily due to favourable prices and the ramp-up of strategic investments in Beihai, Varkaus, and Murów sawmill. This was a record high 1Q sales since 2013, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.
Operational EBIT was Euro 369 million, an increase of 72%, or Euro 154 million. The operational EBIT margin improved by over 5%-points to 14.3%.
Stora Enso's CEO Karl-Henrik Sundström comments said: “We experience strong profitable growth resulting in a promising start of the year. Our transformation strategy goes from strength to strength. We report a record high operational ROCE at 17.7%, the highest since 2000. All in all, we have experienced record sales, profit, or improved operational efficiency in all five divisions! The strong financial performance has also given us the opportunity to continue to strengthen the balance sheet. We have decreased our net debt by nearly Euro 500 million compared to year ago and the net debt to EBITDA ratio has improved from 1.9 to 1.3.”
Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper on global markets.
