Stable fourth quarter ends a strong 2014
CEO Per Lindberg comments on the development during Q4 2014:
“We end the year with another stable quarter. The operating profit level of SEK 460 million is good considering the short delivery month of December and some unexpected hick-ups in the production, of course helped by the weakened SEK. During 2014 we reached all time high volumes, in line with our growth plans. We are starting to see that our efforts to reduce working capital are paying off and we have a working capital level that has decreased substantially in spite of increased net sales. Our net debt/equity ratio is down to 0.67.
The overall market for our business has been stable but as expected a bit slow. We did not run full capacity for Packaging Paper due to seasonally lower demand during the fourth quarter. Containerboard market remained under pressure on the liner side due to the increased capacity on the market. The Consumer Board market was stable.
During the quarter we have announced investments in the production unit in Skärblacka that support Packaging Paper in their selective growth strategy. The investment of SEK 260 million will increase quality and volume of brown sack paper where we see good growth potentials.
Finally to sum up the year, we have delivered what we have promised. We reached our synergy targets ahead of plan. We are on track to reach our growth targets. We have developed a strong and stable platform for the future and I believe we have proven the brilliance in merging the two companies.’’
The information is such that BillerudKorsnäs AB (publ) is obligated to publish under the Swedish Securities Market Act. Submitted for publication at 07.02 CET, 3 february 2015.