Year-end report January-December 2010
Submitted for publication at 08.00 CET on 15 February 2011
(Tables included in attached PDF)
Full-year 2010 compared with the same period in 2009
- Net sales amounted to SEK 8 828 million (7 760), an increase of 14%.
- Profit for the period amounted to SEK 705 million (165).
- Earnings per share amounted to SEK 6.84 (2.04).
- Operating profit amounted to SEK 1 037 million (300), corresponding to a margin of 12% (4).
October-December 2010 compared with July-September 2010
- Net sales amounted to SEK 2 279 million (2 251), an increase of 1%.
- Operating profit amounted to SEK 326 million (276). The 18% increase is mainly attributable to improved prices and improved production efficiency.
- The quarter was charged with non-recurring costs of SEK 19 million.
- Strong order situation continued in the fourth quarter.
Proposed dividend
- The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of SEK 3.50 (0.50) per share for 2010.
Outlook for the full-year 2011
- The order situation remain good or very good within most of Billerud’s packaging paper areas, which will enable a continued positive development within Billerud’s packaging paper and packaging paper solutions segments.
- Good prospects for additional price increases in local currency for packaging paper which counteract the currency effects of a weaker EUR against SEK.
- A weaker USD reduced the operating margin for the Market Pulp business area.
Comments by Billerud’s CEO Per Lindberg:
Billerud reports strengthened position
“I am happy, pleased and impressed by our performance during 2010. We leave 2010 with an operating margin of 15% for our packaging paper in the fourth quarter. For the full-year 2010 the Group achieved, for the first time since our financial targets were set in 2006, an operating margin of 12%, well above our 10% target over a business cycle. Demand for our products showed a very strong increase during the year, and we can see that our focused approach has achieved results.
2010 is a year we can look back at and see that we successfully broke new ground. This is particularly gratifying since our line of approach contradicts a widely held notion in the industry that large-scale operations are the key to success. Instead, I believe that the explanation for success is a strong focus on a single area – in our case selected packaging segments – and being in the forefront in development of material and solutions. I am convinced that Billerud has a strong platform from which to offer products that have environmental sustainability as fundamental properties. We will continue to develop our offering with alternatives to traditional plastic in packaging and can see clear signs that our customers and business environment appreciate the route Billerud has chosen. We approach 2011 with confidence and see good opportunities to continue to develop Billerud and create shareholder value from our strengthened position.”
Billerud’s CEO Per Lindberg and CFO Bertil Carlsén will present the year-end report at a press and analysts conference on Tuesday, 15 February at 10.30 CET.
Venue: Spårvagnshallarna, Birger Jarlsgatan 57 A, Stockholm.
For further information in connection with this report, please contact Per Lindberg, President and CEO, +46 702 481 517 and Bertil Carlsén, CFO, +46 730 211 092
This information is such that Billerud AB is required to disclose under the Securities Market Act. This report has been prepared in both a Swedish and an English version. In the event of variations between the two, the Swedish version shall take precedence. The report has not been reviewed by the company’s auditors.
Billerud is a packaging paper company. The business concept is to offer customers packaging material and solutions that promote and protect their products – packaging that is attractive, strong and made of renewable material. Billerud has a world-leading position within several product segments, both within paper for consumer packaging and for industrial applications. Production takes place at the Group’s three integrated pulp and paper mills in Sweden, and at a paper mill in the UK.
www.billerud.com