Brighter times for Nordic companies

Nordic timber and forestry companies were buoyant this week after reporting a massive swing away from the economic gloom of recession.

The latest companies to post financial results for the first quarter described the turnaround as “remarkable” and of moving in one leap from recession to prosperity. The trend was for increased volumes and higher prices.

Södra said it had turned an SKr52m loss a year ago into an SKr371m profit. Stora Enso also went from a €48.1m loss to a €117.9 profit while Setra went from a SKr210m loss to a SKr15m profit. Sveaskog boosted profits by 54% to Skr327m.

Södra CEO Leif Brodén said: “In the course of a single year we have gone from the shadow of recession and the dramatic events it entailed to a position where all our business areas comply with or almost comply with return requirements.”

Stora Enso has announced it will now keep open the Varkaus sawmill that had been under threat of closure for a year.

Setra CEO Börje Bengtsson said order bookings were good.

“The market for wood products remains stable and demand and price levels have shown positive development,” he said.