Displaying items by tag: Stora Enso

Stora Enso has today issued a EUR 500 million seven-year bond under its EMTN (Euro Medium Term Note) programme. The new bond pays a fixed coupon of 5.5% and will mature in March 2019. The issue price was 99.824, equivalent to a yield of 5.531% and Euro Mid-swaps + 362.5 basis points. There are no financial covenants in the bond.

“We have a strong liquidity position and good access to various financing markets. We issued the bond and announced the tender offer for the Eurobond maturing in 2014 to take advantage of the good credit market conditions and extend our maturity profile,” says Jyrki Tammivuori, SVP, Group Treasurer.

Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and SEB acted as Joint Bookrunners on the bond transaction and are acting as Dealer Managers on the tender offer. The new bond will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, including refinancing of the bond maturing in 2014.

Previous stock exchange release concerning Stora Enso’s seven-year Eurobond and tender offer for its Eurobond maturing in 2014 www.storaenso.com/press
- 29 February 2012: Stora Enso issues seven-year Eurobond and announces tender offer for its Eurobond maturing in 2014

Stora Enso’s Annual Report 2011 is published today as PDF documents. Stora Enso’s Annual Report is comprised of four separate publications: Stora Enso Rethink 2011, Financial Report 2011, Corporate Governance Report 2011 and Global Responsibility Report 2011.

Stora Enso Rethink 2011 is available in English, Finnish and Swedish. Financial Report 2011, Corporate Governance Report 2011 and Global Responsibility Report 2011 are available in English.  

Printed publications will be published during the week commencing Monday 5 March 2012. Stora Enso Rethink 2011, including Stora Enso Facts & Figures 2011 insert, will be distributed to shareholders registered with Euroclear Finland and Euroclear Sweden who have requested a copy. Printed copies of Stora Enso Rethink 2011, Financial Report 2011 and Global Responsibility Report 2011 can be ordered at www.storaenso.com/order or by sending an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Corporate Governance Report 2011 will be available only as a PDF.

Stora Enso has today also published the following separate PDF documents:

• The official Financial Statements in Finnish
• English translation of the Parent Company Financial Statements for 2011
• Finnish translation of the Corporate Governance Report 2011
• Global Responsibility Stakeholder Magazine in English

All of these publications and documents can be downloaded at the Group's website at www.storaenso.com/annualreport.

ÅF has signed a contract with Stora Enso to conduct a pre-project prior to the construction of a new bleaching plant at the Skutskär Pulp Mill, and other reconstruction work in connection with related aspects of the process.

The initial order value for ÅF amounts to approx. SEK 6 million.  

Most of the work will be carried out by consultants from ÅF's office in nearby Gävle, but additional specialist resources and competence will be called in from other ÅF offices. The work will be integrated with that undertaken by Stora Enso Skutskär's own project organisation.

The project is scheduled for completion by the end of June 2012, after which a formal decision will be taken about future implementation.

ÅF has secured the initial order thanks to its proven ability to offer high levels of competence, its strong local organisation and its reference portfolio of major industrial projects that demonstrate the breadth and depth of the company's expertise in the pulp and paper industry. This new assignment further consolidates ÅF's position as the leading supplier of technical consulting services to the Swedish forest industry. 

“Stora Enso’s 2011 turned out to be another year of change. Whereas the full year shows year-on-year operational EBIT improvement, the latter part and especially the fourth quarter showed that rethinking within the Group has to continue.

“The uncertainty and slowing down of the economy were distinctly apparent in our performance in the fourth quarter. The pricing momentum achieved earlier in the year helped us through the fourth quarter with satisfactory results, and as before, with strong cash flow and liquidity at the year end. This is naturally crucial for the transformation of the Group and our continued strategic investments in growth markets.

“Reviewing our own performance in 2011, it is also evident that more flexibility, productivity and work to build customer loyalty are needed. And even with the strong cash flow of the fourth quarter, we need to re-engineer our demand chain to release cash from working capital to invest in our future. This is why we announced a new Business Area structure in January, to improve our competitive position in the various businesses – every day, as soon as possible. The clarity, accountability and simplicity of our new Business Area structure is meant to be an accelerator of this process.

“During the first months of 2012, we will face a challenging operating environment. Uncertainty and limited visibility, at least in European markets, will continue. The decrease in variable costs will only begin to be visible in our profit and loss statements. We will therefore continue to focus on pricing quality and cash flow. Construction of the Montes del Plata pulp mill is progressing according to the plan, with close to 4 000 people working at the Punta Pereira site in Uruguay. This is a project in which we and the surrounding community can take pride.

“In summary, another challenging year ahead, a year of improving our productivity, demand chain and customer satisfaction. But also another exciting year of building and transforming the Group.”

Stora Enso’s Printing and Reading Business Area plans to increase its cost competitiveness by restructuring coated magazine paper operations at Corbehem Mill in France, Veitsiluoto Mill in Finland and Kabel Mill in Germany.

“The operating environment in coated magazine paper has remained challenging. The plans announced today would respond to these challenges by improving cost efficiency and productivity. The planned streamlining of coated magazine paper operations, including investments in quality, productivity and energy saving, would enable us to better meet customer and market expectations, and improve profitability,” says Juha Vanhainen, EVP, Stora Enso Printing and Reading Business Area.

Stora Enso Printing and Reading plans to reduce annual costs by approximately EUR 48 million, with the full impact achieved from the third quarter of 2013 onwards. The plans also include investments in Corbehem, Veitsiluoto and Kabel mills totalling EUR 18 million. The proposed restructuring measures would reduce the number of employees in coated magazine paper operations by up to 110 in total. It is planned that all the actions would be completed by the end of 2012. Stora Enso will record a cash provision of approximately EUR 5 million and a fixed asset write-down of approximately EUR 1 million in the Printing and Reading segment as a non-recurring item in the first quarter of 2012 results.

The outcome of the plans will depend on the result of the local co-determination procedures. Stora Enso would work in co-operation with the local communities to help affected personnel to find new employment opportunities, and all job openings in other Stora Enso units would be available to those affected.

Stora Enso plans to increase further the efficiency and flexibility of its local maintenance operations in Sweden by restructuring and changing the processes.

The planned restructuring measures would reduce the workforce by approximately 130 employees in maintenance operations in Sweden. The planned restructuring concerns Hylte, Skoghall, Skutskär, Fors and Kvarnsveden mills. Altogether approximately 800 personnel are employed in maintenance at the units concerned.

The restructuring measures would reduce annual costs by approximately EUR 21 million starting gradually from late 2012 onwards. Stora Enso will record a cash provision of EUR 6 million in the Renewable Packaging segment and EUR 4 million in the Printing and Reading segment as a non-recurring item in the first quarter of 2012 results.

“To safeguard our competitiveness, we need to stay on the path of improvements in costs and productivity, and also flexibility. We are therefore planning to increase the efficiency of our local maintenance operations,” says Mats Nordlander, Executive Vice President Renewable Packaging and Country Manager Sweden.

All decisions will be taken only after the local co-determination negotiations have been concluded. Stora Enso would make every effort in co-operation with local communities to help the affected personnel find new employment opportunities, and all job openings in other Stora Enso units would be available to those affected.

Stora Enso has been rated as sector leader in the Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) Review for 2011 published in London. This recognition rewards the company for managing and transparently reporting its forest footprint.

A ‘forest footprint’ measures the total amount of deforestation caused directly or indirectly by an organisation or product. Many businesses unknowingly source products that contribute to deforestation in their supply chains, and their resulting forest footprint can create unexpected valuation risks and add to their climate change impacts. The Forest Footprint Disclosure Review analyses questionnaire responses submitted by international companies who disclose information to FFD in order to assess how their activities directly or indirectly contribute to deforestation.

“We are very proud of this recognition, as responsible forestry is one of the cornerstones for Stora Enso’s business” says Antti Marjokorpi, SVP Group Forest Operations. “We use third-party-verified traceability systems to ensure that we know the origin of all the wood we use. We also promote credible forest certification, certify the forests and tree plantations we manage, and continuously provide training for our employees and partners about responsible forestry. But we do not feel that this work is complete, and we are still working hard to improve our performance every year.”

Stora Enso has now been ranked in the FFD review as the leading performer in its sector for two years running. The Forest Footprint Disclosure project was launched by the Global Canopy Foundation in 2008. FFD invites companies to disclose their current understanding of their ‘forest footprint’, based on their direct or indirect utilisation of five key commodities linked to deforestation – soy, palm oil, timber, cattle products and biofuels. 

The information disclosed by the companies is assessed and scored against a matrix. FFD aims to go beyond disclosure and encourage investors to engage with the companies in their portfolios on issues related to deforestation. Read the whole 2011 Forest Footprint Disclosure review at http://www.forestdisclosure.com/

Metso has received an important automation order for Stora Enso Narew Sp.zo.o new containerboard production line at Ostroleka in Poland. The production line will produce 455.000 tonnes of light-weighted testliner per year. The EUR 285 million investment project is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2013.

Metso´s delivery scope includes MetsoDNA Automation System, Process Info Management System, latest Web Inspection technology integrated with high speed Web Break Analysis system, Control and On/off-valves as well as Consistency transmitters and Field Instruments. The main shipments will take place during the third quarter of 2012. 

"We are very pleased about this extensive automation order and privileged to continue working with Stora Enso Narew professional team after the successful power plant project implementation," says Ari Pinjamaa, Regional Vice President, Metso.