HELSINKI, Finland, Oct. 31, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metso Corporation (NYSE:MX) will arrange a news conference on Wednesday October 31, 2001 at 3 p.m. Finnish time (1 p.m. U.K. time) at Metso's headquarters, address: Fabianinkatu 9 A, Helsinki, Finland.
The news conference can be followed live via the Internet at www.metso.com.
- Metso Corporation's net sales for January--September were EUR 2,906 million(1-9/2000: EUR 2,735 million). - Operating profit was EUR 171 million (EUR 127 million). - Income before extraordinary items and taxes was EUR 172 million (EUR 113 million). - Earnings per share were EUR 0.83 (EUR 0.58). New orders totaling EUR 2,609 million (EUR 3,180 million) were received. - The order backlog at the end of September was EUR 1,985 million (EUR 2,026 million). - The gearing ratio at the end of September was 88.5 percent.
The demand for Metso Paper's products was satisfactory in Europe and South America in the January--September period. The market situation in North America weakened. Major pulp and paper machine investments were pending in China and to some extent also on other markets. The demand for maintenance services remained good, even in North America.
The demand for Metso Minerals products supplied to the construction and civil engineering industries continued to be good in Europe, except for Germany, but the market situation in North America has clearly deteriorated during 2001. The demand for mining industry products was quiet in North America, but continued to be relatively satisfactory in the Southern hemisphere.
The demand for Metso Automation's products was good in Europe and satisfactory in North America.
Metso's net sales increased by 14 percent (without forest machine group sold in April 2000). Due to increased deliveries and more efficient project implementation, profitability was clearly better than the comparison period in all business areas except for Metso Automation. The Corporation's operating profit percentage was 5.9.
In January--September, the new orders received by Metso were down to 13 percent (excluding forest machine group) on the comparison period, mainly due to the decrease in the new orders of Metso Paper's papermaking technology. The order backlogs of Metso Minerals, Metso Automation and Metso Ventures increased from the end of 2000. The Svedala acquisition increased Metso's order backlog by EUR 410 million.
Metso's gearing ratio at the end of September was 88.5 percent.
Metso's net income excluding extraordinary items and earnings per share for 2001 are expected to improve on last year. The estimate is based on the Corporation's order backlog at the end of September, the growing share of maintenance operations, the synergy benefits arising from the merger that created Metso and cost savings.
Svedala's profit development in July-September 2001
The volume of new orders received by Svedala, acquired by Metso Corporation in September, grew slightly compared with the corresponding period last year. Profitability was weak in the third quarter as in the corresponding period last year. The profitability problems apply mostly to the U.S. operations.
In the July-September 2001 period, Svedala's:
- value of new orders received was EUR 368 million - net sales were EUR 385 million - operating loss was EUR 4.8 million
In the January--September 2001 period, Svedala's:
- value of new orders received was EUR 1,244 million - net sales were EUR 1,212 million - operating profit was EUR 12.2 million
The operating result for the review period does not include the re-arrangement costs caused by Metso's acquisition, or cost items arising from the harmonization of Metso's and Svedala's accounting principles.
The full report including tables can be downloaded from the enclosed link: http://reports.huginonline.com/838511/96052.pdf