Stora Enso has confirmed its results for Q2 2020. Sales decreased by 18.9% to €2,114m (€2,608m in same period last year), due to lower deliveries and prices, as a result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Operational EBIT decreased to €178m (€299m). The impact of lower sales was partly offset by good cost management. Operational EBIT margin was 8.4% (11.5%).
Stora Enso’s President and CEO Annica Bresky comments, “We continue to experience unprecedented times with the Covid-19 pandemic, which is affecting global health and creating uncertainty and volatility in the business environment. Governments have introduced significant stimuli to support economies and societies are gradually opening up. However, despite some optimistic signs, market conditions’ poor visibility will continue. We stay focused on what we can influence through these challenging times: serving and supporting our customers; ensuring the health of our employees; running our operations as efficiently as possible; securing our financial resilience; and driving our innovation agenda.
“We delivered an operational EBIT of €178m, about the same as in the first quarter this year (€180m). Operational EBIT excluding Paper was €216m, much stronger than during the first quarter (€159m). We consider the second quarter result solid in the current circumstances. This was driven by strong performances in the Packaging Materials and Forest divisions, and Wood Products division delivering a better result than expected. The pandemic’s biggest effect on our business has been in the Paper division, accelerating the structural decline in all paper grades. Excluding Paper, our operational EBIT margin stayed at 13%, showing the resilience of our growth businesses.”
