Södra Wood increases profits
Timber division of Swedish company Södra recorded a sharp profits jump in the second quarter to 50m SEK (Swedish Krone) compared to a year ago.
Södra’s timber division recorded a sharp profits jump in the second quarter to 50m SEK compared to a year ago.
The Swedish sawmiller’s performance (compared to a 204m SEK loss a year ago) was mainly due to improved earnings for sawn timber.
In addition, the second quarter of 2016 was impacted by a non-recurring cost of SKr204m related to the restructuring of Södra Wood’s sawmill operations.
Group-wide Södra’s operating profit totalled 464m SEK for the second quarter. The trend was boosted by favourable demand for Södra’s products, higher prices and internal operational improvements.
Lars Idermark, president and CEO of Södra said:
“The overall forest economy remains strong, which is to Södra’s advantage. Higher prices for both market pulp and sawn timber contributed to a strong quarter for Södra. A firmer customer and market orientation is also yielding results. In addition, the expansion investments at our pulp mills and the restructuring process in the sawmill operations had a positive impact on operating profit.”