Holmen (SE) - Holmen: Interim Report January - March 2003

Published: 12:32 07.05.2003 GMT+2 /HUGIN /Source: Holmen /SSE: HOLM 

/ISIN: SE0000109290
 

Holmen: Interim Report January - March 2003
 
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

|                               |        Quarter        | Full year |

|-------------------------------+-----------------------+-----------|

| MSEK                          |  1-03 |  4-02 |  1-02 |      2002 |

|-------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-----------|

| Net turnover                  | 4,001 | 4,120 | 3,938 |    16,081 |

|-------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-----------|

| Operating profit              |   635 |   638 |   743 |     2,713 |

|-------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-----------|

| Profit after financial items  |   581 |   611 |   705 |     2,564 |

|-------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-----------|

| Profit after tax              |   389 |   436 |   499 |     1,959 |

|-------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-----------|

| Earnings per share (before    |  4.86 |  5.46 |  6.20 |     24.50 |

| dilution), SEK                |       |       |       |           |

|-------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-----------|

| Earnings per share (after     |  4.69 |  5.25 |  6.00 |     23.58 |

| dilution), SEK                |       |       |       |           |

|-------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-----------|

| Return on equity, %           |  10.3 |  11.7 |  14.4 |      13.7 |

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
 
* The Group's profit after financial items for January-March was

  MSEK 581 (January-March 2002: 705). Holmen Paper's operating profit

  declined by MSEK 284, while Iggesund Paperboard's operating profit

  increased by MSEK 88.
 

  In relation to the fourth quarter of 2002 the result declined by

  MSEK 30. Holmen Paper's result declined by MSEK 151, while the

  results of Iggesund Paperboard and Holmen Kraft rose by MSEK 64 and

  MSEK 110 respectively.
 

* The profit after tax amounted to MSEK 389 (499), which corresponds

  to earnings per share of SEK 4.86 (6.20). The return on equity was

  10.3 per cent (14.4).
 

* Market conditions for newsprint and magazine paper were weak during

  the first quarter, but have stabilised. Holmen Paper's production

  has continued to be restricted. Prices declined on average by some

  10 per cent in relation to the previous quarter.
 
Market conditions for paperboard were stable during the quarter, with

sustained firm demand outside Western Europe. Iggesund Paperboard's

deliveries rose and capacity utilisation was high. Prices were stable

following the increases implemented during the fourth quarter.
 
The full Interim Report including tables is available to download

from the enclosed link:
 
 http://reports.huginonline.com/902409/117321.pdf
 
This press release was brought to you by Hugin Online, distributor of 

electronic press releases for companies listed on selected European 

stock exchanges.  Address:
 http://www.huginonline.com/Sweden/HOLM
 

To alter your subscription profile or to unsubscribe, please go to:
 http://www.huginonline.com/email
 

The Hugin Team