Swedish forestry group Södra has reported “good” first quarter business, with pre-tax profits up to SKr344m from SKr274m a year ago.
The group, which recorded sales of SKr3.4bn, said its production of sawn timber products continued at a fast pace in a market characterised by higher producer stocks and stabilising prices for finished goods.
Meanwhile, UPM-Kymmene said its profitability was “weak” after reporting first quarter pre-tax profits of €63m, down from €135m in the same quarter of 2003, while sales were €2,451m.
UPM’s wood products division record operating profits of €9m, similar to its performance in the first quarter of 2003. The plywood business was slightly better than a year ago but sawmilling continued to make a loss and the building supplies trade also suffered.
Swedish state-owned forestry company Sveaskog had net profits of SKr169m, down from SKr198m on the same quarter in 2003, while net sales were SKr2bn. The company said the sawmilling market continues to weaken with high production impacting prices, especially for redwood, but also increasingly in whitewood.
Stora Enso, which also cited an oversupply of redwood, reported pre-tax profits of €80.8m, compared with €126.2m a year ago. Sales were just over €3bn.
