Stora Enso first-quarter profit beats forecast amid strong demand

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpReuters – Finnish forestry firm Stora Enso reported on Thursday an operational profit that rose more than expected in the first quarter and retained its fullyear guidance, citing strong demand amid high prices.p

pThe companys quarterly operational earnings before interest and tax EBIT jumped 53 yearonyear to 503 million euros 528 million, compared with 444 million euros seen in a Refinitiv poll.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

p“We are fully booked, see no weakening in our markets and we continuously work to mitigate higher input costs”, Chief Executive Annika Bresky said in a statement.p

pThough the forestry industry has been struggling with a continuing decline in demand for paper, it saw a growing demand for woodbased packaging material. This led the company to consider investments in packaging board production worth 900 million1 billion euros.p

pIn March, Stora Enso started the sale process for four of its five paper mills as it no longer saw lossmaking paper production as part of its future strategy.p

pEarlier this week, the company decided to sell its sawmills in Russia to local management, in a move which would result in a 130 million euro loss.p

pBresky said the impact of the Russia operations on the company is not material as they represented only 3 of sales in 2021.p

p1 0.9524 eurosp

pThis story corrects to show paper mills sale process started not mills sold, paragraph 5p

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pp Reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Uttaresh.Vp

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