Billerud Interim report January–March 2024

The first quarter result was a clear sequential improvement. As we expected, the improvement was mainly derived from stronger sales volumes and stronger price positions within liquid packaging board. We also experienced favorable product mix changes in both regions. Despite headwinds of higher costs for energy, logistics and fiber in Europe, the Group’s EBITDA margin strengthened to 11% in the quarter.

The market sentiment clearly improved during the quarter in both regions. Order books have strengthened, and we see broad-based price increase announcements. Over the past quarter, we adjusted quickly and produced at full speed on all machines in Europe and significantly decreased our production curtailments in the US. I am in particular proud of how we successfully managed to solve the challenging logistical issues, enabling us to capture the market opportunity. We are also pleased with the clearly improved profitability in North America to 16% EBITDA margin. With overall cost stability, we are excited about the future cost-leading production opportunities in this region.

Sales and results
Net sales for the first quarter declined by 9% to SEK 10,423 million (11,495). Currency changes had a positive impact of 2%. The organic* and currency-neutral net sales declined by 9%, mainly due to lower sales prices and reduced sales volumes. The Group’s sales volumes totaled 921 ktons (943), negatively impacted by curtailments of production in North America.

Adjusted EBITDA amounted to SEK 1,166 million (1,484), corresponding to a margin of 11% (13). The Group’s result decreased mainly because of lower sales, only partly offset by reduced costs for raw materials, logistics and energy.

No items classified as affecting comparability impacted the result in the first quarter (–).
details at: https://www.billerud.com/press–news/press-releases/2024/interim-report-januarymarch-2024

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