HELSINKI, Finland, April 30, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metso Corporation (NYSE:MX):
A news conference: on Tuesday, April 30, 2002 at 1.30 p.m. (Finnish time) at Metso, Fabianinkatu 9 A, Helsinki. Live news conference also at www.metso.com.
- Metso Corporation's net sales in January-March totaled EUR 1,111 million (EUR 1,437 million in October-December 2001). - Operating profit before nonrecurring items and amortization of goodwill was EUR 48.4 million (EUR 75.4 million). Operating profit was EUR 30.9 million (EUR 75.8 million). - Income before extraordinary items and taxes was EUR 14 million (EUR 50 million). - Earnings per share excl. nonrecurring items and amortization of goodwill were EUR 0.18 (EUR 0.20). Earnings per share were EUR 0.04 (EUR 0.26). - New orders were received to the amount of EUR 1,291 million (EUR 1,169 million). - The order backlog at the end of March was EUR 1,932 million (Dec 31, 2001: EUR 1,772 million). - The gearing ratio at the end of March was 87.1 percent.
Metso's new orders in January-March were up by 10 percent on the last quarter of 2001. Metso Paper's new orders increased by 6 percent and Metso Minerals' by 25 percent, while Metso Automation's new orders fell by 5 percent and Metso Ventures' by 11 percent. Metso's order backlog was 9 percent higher than at the end of 2001.
Operating profit before nonrecurring items and amortization of goodwill amounted to 4.4 percent of net sales. The result was burdened in particular by the low delivery volumes of Metso Paper and Metso Automation, relatively low net sales of Metso Minerals for January-March due to the seasonal nature of the business and the unprofitable operations of Metso Panelboard which is now part of Metso Ventures.
Metso's market environment improved slightly in January-March compared to the previous quarter. However, uncertainty of the global economic outlook was still reflected in customer industries as caution with respect to investments.
Metso Minerals has continued its integration process at a fast pace. Overall synergy benefits are estimated to exceed the earlier estimate, EUR 70 million, and more than half of the savings will be realized already this year.
"We believe in favorable profitability development in 2002 due to the strengthened order backlog, the good progress in integrating Metso Minerals and the several ongoing cost efficiency improvement projects," said Tor Bergman, President and CEO of Metso Corporation. The Corporation's net sales in 2002 are expected to reach EUR 5.0 -5.2 billion.
The full Interim Report including tables is available to download from the enclosed link: http://reports.huginonline.com/857631/102903.pdf
ENCLOSURE: Metso Corporation's Interim Review for January - March 2002