JANUARY–MARCH 2022 (1–3/2021)
*Sales were EUR 1,594 million (1,400).
*Operating result was EUR 341 million (136). Comparable operating result was EUR 244 million (174).
*Result before taxes was EUR 330 million (121). Comparable result before taxes was EUR 232 million (160).
*Comparable return on capital employed was 15.8% (12.6).
*Net cash flow from operations was EUR 135 million (95).
EVENTS DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2022
*The average sales prices of softwood market pulp were roughly at the level of the previous quarter in Europe, while prices in China increased.
*Demand for Metsä Board’s paperboards remained strong. The average prices of paperboards increased from the previous quarter, especially in Europe.
*Metsäliitto Cooperative divested its holding in Finsilva Oyj, which owns approximately 130,000 hectares of forest.
*Metsä Board sold the entire share capital of Oy Hangö Stevedoring Ab to Euroports Finland Oy.
*Metsä Fibre and Veolia signed a cooperation agreement, under which Veolia will construct a crude methanol refinery in connection with the Äänekoski bioproduct mill.
President and CEO Ilkka Hämälä:
“We are living in times of uncertainty and rapid changes. Russia’s attack on Ukraine has led to several changes in Metsä Group’s operations. We have discontinued our wood supply from Russia, our sawn timber production in the country and the sales of paperboard and tissue papers to Russia and Belarus. The increase in European energy prices will have a considerable impact on the cost structure and profitability of tissue paper production in Central Europe. We continue to prepare for a disruption in Russian energy supply in our operations.
Despite the geopolitical situation and the lingering coronavirus pandemic, Metsä Group reached a very good result in the first quarter. Key elements included the continued strengthening of the paperboard market and the rising trend in pulp prices, which began in late 2021. The demand for sawn timber, LVL and plywood remained strong. Metsä Tissue’s profitability suffered from the rapid cost inflation caused by energy prices, while the demand for products remained normal.
Metsä Group’s investment projects have progressed as planned, although cost pressure remains high. The Rauma sawmill investment has proceeded to the equipment testing phase. The goal is for the sawmill, as well as the renewed recovery boiler in Husum, to be in use in the second half of the year.
Metsä Group aims to process Finnish wood into products that people all around the world use in their daily lives. Operational development spanning the entire value chain, from the forest to customer support, as well as investments in production plants offering the highest resource efficiency in the field are our ways of securing the profitability of operations in an uncertain world full of surprises.”
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