The Packaging Papers activity continued to enjoy broadly favourable market conditions and healthy demand, achieving average selling prices which were comparable to those achieved in the first half and benefiting from stable raw material costs. Production and deliveries during the second half were lower than those of the first half due to the combined impact of the planned annual maintenance shutdown, investment-related stoppages and some minor mechanical issues which were quickly resolved. Total annual production and deliveries were broadly similar to those of the previous year, while the EBITDA from operating activities showed some improvement over the prior year.
The acquisition of Corenso was completed as expected on 1 December 2014 and during the month of December, Corenso performed in line with the trends outlined in the Admission Document published on 30 September 2014. The actions required to achieve initial separation of Corenso from its previous owner Stora Enso were completed smoothly and our plans for the integration of Corenso into Powerflute are progressing well.
The Group begins 2015 with healthy order books in each of its businesses and despite recent uncertainty over economic conditions in certain countries of the Eurozone, the outlook for the year remains broadly positive.
Powerflute is a paper and packaging group.
