Gascogne’s FY 2016 sales totalled Euro 406.8 million, a slight drop of 2%, compared to Euro 415.1 million in 2015, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.
This drop is consistent with the Group's strategy to focus on higher-profitability segments that will allow larger margins by working on the market and product mix that Gascogne will target in the upcoming years.
The EBITDA increased by more than 30% from Euro 16.7 million in 2015 to Euro 22 million in 2016 by controlling the wage bill (down Euro 3.4 million) and lower energy costs (down Euro 1.6 million), mainly due to the commissioning of the biomass boiler in the second half. The recovery of profitability was however limited by high wood supply costs.
The underlying operating profit increased from Euro 7.7 million to Euro 11.6 million. The increase in underlying operating profit is less than the increase in EBITDA because the depreciations rose by Euro 1.4 million due to the major investments made the past three years.
The operating profit is Euro 10.5 million and integrates other non-operating income and expenses for a total of -Euro 1.1 million.
The net income for all consolidated accounts was positive for the second straight year at Euro 7.4 million, compared to Euro 7.1 million in 2015
The Gascogne Group is the leading player in the French wood industry, operating at every stage of forest resource processing.