• Income after net financial items amounted to SEK ‑4 million for the first
quarter of 2013 compared with SEK 0 million for the fourth quarter of 2012
and SEK -4 million for the first quarter of 2012.
• The USD price for chemical pulp is rising and price increases to USD 860
per tonne have been announced. In spite of this, the average price in
Swedish kronor for the first quarter of 2013 was in line with the fourth
quarter of 2012 due to the weak dollar rate.
• Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 21 (-32) million for
the first quarter of 2013. This positive cash flow is largely explained by
a reduction in working capital.
• Arctic Paper holds 54% of the shares in Rottneros and the bid process has
been concluded
CEO’s statement
Global supplies of long-fibre market pulp increased by almost four per cent in
2012. Delivery volumes remained the same during the first quarter of 2013, both
compared with the preceding quarter and the same quarter of the previous year.
Prices according to PIX were USD 820 per tonne for NBSK compared with USD 830
per tonne last year. The market was consequently stable. However, prices for
Swedish exporters like Rottneros have fallen by SEK 325 per tonne since the
first quarter of 2012, though they remained relatively stable for the first
quarter of this year. The sharp decline in prices has clearly had an impact on
the company’s turnover, as volumes have largely remained the same, but has a
relatively minor impact on the result. This can be explained by the reduction
in our variable costs, as our fixed overheads remain largely unchanged.
The company, including staff, customers and suppliers, have been in a state of
uncertainty over the past quarter, owing to the bid process that prevailed as a
result of the offer to exchange Rottneros shares for shares in Arctic Paper SA.
The bid process has now been concluded; there was no merger. A new board was
elected at the AGM. There are no imminent dramatic changes pending concerning
deliveries to Arctic Paper or other customers. Nor have there been any changes
to products. It is currently BUSINESS AS USUAL.
We are now concentrating on developing Rottneros in the best possible way with
the preconditions that we have. Several projects are running in parallel and we
hope that we will soon be able to revert with more concrete information. We
anticipate that the Swedish currency will continue to be strong, so now
everyone needs to adjust to a low-inflation economy and continued endeavours to
cut costs. Pulp prices are rising and demand is stable and no net capacity will
be added to our markets in the near future.
Ole Terland
President and CEO
(For full report including tables, see attached file)
Rottneros discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the Securities
Markets Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. This information was
submitted for publication on 18 April 2013 at 08.00. A Swedish and an English
version of this report have been drawn up. The Swedish version shall apply in
the event of differences between the two reports.
Rottneros AB (publ)
Corp. ID no. 556013-5872
Box 70 370, SE-107 24 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel. +46 8 590 010 00, fax +46 8-590 010 01
www.rottneros.com
Rottneros, a company that was originally established in the 1600s, is an
independent and flexible supplier of customised paper pulp of high quality.
Rottneros has been able to adapt in order to meet high customer expectations by
continually developing its products and maintaining high levels of delivery
reliability, technical support and service.
Rottneros has an annual production capacity of almost 400,000 tonnes of pulp at
two mills in Sweden. Increasingly intensive product development in line with
the requirements of customers will result in profitability that is higher and
more stable throughout the business cycle.
