Kruger Announces 7/1/18 Price Increase on CGW

The New Wood competition for products and solutions for the wood-based bioeconomy challenged pioneering companies to offer new solutions to global challenges. The prizes of the competition were handed out on April 29, 2021. Kotkamills and Pyroll together were one of the six finalists in the competition with responsible serving packs made for Norwich City FC. The steering group of the New Tree project awarded our competition proposal an honorable mention of Everyday Heroes, and in the public vote, the proposal took second place. The jury assesses the societal significance of the solutions as well as the ability to respond to global challenges and promote sustainable development goals. The winning solutions also had to have international market potential and make innovative use of wood.

Metsä Group is expanding the operations of its innovation company Metsä Spring that was established in June 2018. So far, Metsä Spring has been mainly involved in development activities outside the current business areas of Metsä Group. From now on, it will also support research and development related to Metsä Group’s current business areas. Research and development cooperation will be increased both within Metsä Group and with different research institutions and stakeholders. A wider innovation ecosystem plays a central role in the Metsä Group model. With this change, the company aims to strengthen its position even further in different networks and carry out research and development cooperation actively with various partners. “Metsä Group has to be able to continuously renew itself. We improve Metsä Group’s readiness to react to a changing operating environment and be better positioned in the forefront of development. We must find new development areas that promote sustainable bioeconomy. At the same time, we must be able to develop our current products so that they can be used for a wider range of end uses,” says Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group.

• Operating profit for 2021 amounted to SEK 3 731 million (2020: 2 479). Excluding the item affecting comparability related to the damaged turbine at the paperboard mill in Workington, operating profit increased by SEK 1 582 million to SEK 4 061 million as a result of higher prices for wood products and the expansion of the wood products business. • Operating profit for the fourth quarter excluding the item affecting comparability was SEK 1 185 million, compared with SEK 1 129 million in the third quarter. The sale of a British forest property had a positive impact on profit of just over SEK 200 million, while lower wood product prices had a negative impact on profit. • Profit after tax in 2021 amounted to SEK 3 004 million (1 979), which corresponds to earnings per share of SEK 18.5 (12.2). • Prices for forest properties continued to increase in 2021, which meant that the recognised value of forest assets during the annual revaluation increased 9 per cent from SEK 43 202 million at the beginning of the year to SEK 47 080 million.