EBITDA from operating activities before non-recurring items increased by Euro 34.3 million to Euro 55.2 million, including EBITDA of Euro 26.3 million from a full year of trading in Coreboard and Cores and Euro 29.3 million from Packaging Papers.
Profit before tax for the period was Euro 37.7 million (2014: Euro 8.6 million) and is stated after charging non-recurring items of Euro 1.9 million.
Commenting on the results, Dermot Smurfit, Chairman of Powerflute said: "2015 has been another very successful year for Powerflute. The Corenso acquisition has been truly transformational, more than doubling the size and profitability of the Group and significantly increasing its scale and global presence. Although we benefited significantly from favourable market conditions and foreign exchange rates throughout the year, our executive management teams have once again delivered improvement in the underlying operating performance across the Group.
"Despite some recent softening of market conditions, both Coreboard and Cores and Packaging Papers currently have satisfactory forward order books at price levels comparable with the prior year. In the absence of any marked change in the external environment, we currently expect that 2016 will be another successful year for the Group."
Powerflute is a paper and packaging group. The Group currently has two main activities; Packaging Papers which trades under the name Powerflute and operates a paper mill in Kuopio, Finland producing a specialised form of Nordic semi-chemical fluting used in the manufacture of high-performance corrugated board; and Coreboard and Cores, which trades under the name Corenso and is a leading international manufacturer of high performance coreboard and cores, with coreboard mills in the United States and Europe and a network of core producing facilities in Europe, North America and China.
