The Swedish wood products company Setra has registered lower earnings in their Q1 2016, compared to the same period in 2015. Their reported operation profit was of SEK 9 million or EUR 983 thousand (Q1 2015: SEK 24 million or EUR 2,62 million) and their net sales reached SEK 1,028 million or EUR 112,3 million (Q1 2015: SEK 1,041 million or EUR 113,7 million).
“The lower earnings compared with the first quarter in the previous year was mainly explained by lower selling prices. The market for wood products improved somewhat during the first quarter. We see a considerably better balance for whitewood products and a slight improvement for redwood, although there are still large stocks of redwood products at producers. Price increases could be implemented in local currency in a number of markets,” says Hannele Arvonen, President and CEO of Setra.
“Due to the strained market situation last autumn we decided to implement production cutbacks during the fourth quarter. As an effect of these we have good control of our stocks and our cash flow. Now when the market situation looks a little better, we are back to our normal production rate,” says Arvonen.
The cash flow from operating activities for the Q1 2016 reached EUR -4,588 million (Q1 2015: EUR 4,807 million), but Setra’s financial position is strong. The net debt/equity ratio at the end of the period was 21% (Q1 2015: 24%).
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