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Ahlstrom Fiber Composites net sales up perk up

01 Feb '08

2 min read

Net sales for the full year 2007 grew by 10.1% and amounted to EUR 1,760.8 million (2006: EUR 1,599.1 million). Operating profit amounted to EUR 25.8 million (EUR 96.1 million) and included non-recurring costs of EUR 42.0 million (gains of 8.7 million) mainly related to the restructuring measures taken during the fourth quarter.

As part of the restructuring Ahlstrom decided to close four plants which incurred an operating loss of EUR 4.3 million in addition to the restructuring costs.

Profit before taxes was EUR 0.2 million (EUR 81.2 million). Return on capital employed (ROCE) was 2.5% (10.4%). Earnings per share (EPS) amounted to EUR 0.01 (EUR 1.31).

The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of EUR 1.00 (EUR 1.00) per share to be paid for the financial year 2007.

As a result of the actions taken in 2007, Ahlstrom is well-positioned to grow and improve clearly its operating financial performance in 2008.

October-December 2007 in brief:
- Net sales amounted to EUR 462.5 million, growing by 23.3% (adjusted for currency effect) from the fourth quarter of 2006 as a result of good demand in the FiberComposites segment and Technical Papers business area, as well as recent growth initiatives.
- Group operating profit excluding non-recurring items decreased to EUR 11.0 million due to the weak profitability of the Release & Label Papers business area. This was caused by the operating loss of the closed plants as well as technical problems with the ramp-up of the La Gère release base paper investment incurring additional costs of EUR 7.6 million.
- In order to improve profitability, Ahlstrom announced restructuring actions targeting to bring profit improvement of EUR 25 million on an annual basis.

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