RusForest Releases First Quarter Report 2016


Stockholm, 2016-05-31 08:05 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RusForest AB (publ) (“RusForest” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ OMX: RUSF), a Swedish forestry company with operations in Russia, today released its first quarter report 2016.

First Quarter 2016 Highlights                                                           

  • Sawlogs: Harvested 121,121 m3 of sawlogs in Q1 2016, which included 28,793 m3 of own harvesting in Ust-Ilimsk.  (Q1 2015: 74,304 m3, of which Ust-Ilimsk 0 m3).
  • Subcontracting: Harvested 273,933 m3 of sawlogs in Ust-Ilimsk forest lease areas in Q1 2016 (Q1 2015: 262,415 m3).
  • Sawnwood: Produced 23,021 m3 of sawnwood in Magistralny in Q1 2016 (Q1 2015: 21,778 m3).
  • Wood Pellets: Produced 6,225 tonnes of pellets in Q1 2016 (Q1 2015: 0 tonnes).
  • Revenue: Generated revenue of USD 7.3 million in Q1 2016 (Q1 2015: USD 5.6 million)
     
  • EBITDA: Reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) of USD 3.0 million in Q1 2016 (Q1 2015: USD 2.0 million). EBITDA margin of 40% in Q1 2016 compared with 35% in Q1 2015.
     
  • Profit for the period: Recorded a net profit of USD 1.2 million in Q1 2016 (Q1 2015: net profit of USD 1.7 million).
     
  • Cash and Working Capital: Closed the first quarter of 2016 with a cash balance of USD 10.9 million (31 Dec 2015: USD 8.4 million) and positive working capital of USD 1.8 million (31 Dec 2015: USD 2.5 million).

Management Comments

Anton Bogdanov, CEO of RusForest Management Company, commented:

Core sawmilling operations in Magistralny performed well in Q1 2016, with the highest quarterly output ever. The newly launched wood pellet mill and own harvesting operations in Ust-Ilimsk also performed well, although still in a ramp-up phase. Stable core operations together with the new business activities generated significantly increased revenue as well as improved operational profitability compared with Q1 2015. The Central Asian and Northern African markets remained difficult in Q1 2016, however, the Company managed to redirect more low quality product sales to the Japanese market instead.

Conference Call

The Company will hold a telephone conference at 11:00 a.m. CET on Tuesday, May 31, 2016, where management will be available to comment on the report and the latest developments.    

To participate in the conference call, please dial the following numbers at least five minutes before the scheduled event:

From Sweden: +46 (0) 8 50556474

From United Kingdom: +44 203 3645374

From North America: +1 (855) 7532230

To take part in the interactive presentation, please use webcast link: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/5oedfxbj or visit RusForest’s website at www.rusforest.com and click on the link for the first quarter report 2016 webcast. A presentation will also be available for download from the website.

About RusForest AB

RusForest is a Swedish forestry company operating in Eastern Siberia. The Company controls long-term timber leases and utilizes these resources to produce a wide range of sawnwood products. RusForest is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm First North (ticker “RUSF”).

RusForest AB's Certified Adviser on First North is Pareto Securities AB.

For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.rusforest.com or contact:

Gustav Wetterling, Group CFO, telephone: +46 8 771 85 00


Attachments

Q1 report 2016.pdf