Metsä Wood posts loss but upbeat on future
7 February 2014Metsä Wood has posted a €2m operating loss for 2013 but says its refocused strategy laid a solid foundation for the business in the future.
The Finnish sawmiller was hit by one-off costs to the tune of €17.2m, pushing it into an operating loss (2012: €16.3m profit). An operating profit of €2m was recorded for the last quarter of 2013. Metsä Wood’s sales totalled €897m (2012: €904.2m).
The company launched a restructuring programme last April to improve competitiveness and profitability. Some 135 jobs went in the company’s UK operations as well as 73 workers in Finland.
A further 31 employees lost their jobs when the Casteljaloux sawmill closed in France and 51 jobs went when the Kaskinen upgrading and distribution unit was closed at the end of 2013.
It said a positive price trend in sawn timber was not sufficient to offset the effect of increasing raw material prices. A production shutdown due to investment at Vilppula sawmill also limited the delivery volumes of sawn timber.
In the near term, Metsä Wood believes demand for wood products will continue to be stable within the normal seasonal fluctuation range.
“The industrial and sawn timber product market is expected to be reasonably balanced during the first quarter,” it said. “However, the outlook for the construction and upgrading business is challenging in a large part of the main market areas.”
