8th Sep 2015 07:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Finnish packaging company Powerflute Oyj posted a big rise in pretax profit and revenue in the first half thanks to its acquisition of Corenso, but its underlying performance in the half also was stronger, helping its shares to rise in early trade.
Powerflute said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was EUR18.2 million, nearly triple the EUR6.9 million it posted a year earlier, while revenue more than doubled to EUR179.7 million from EUR72.7 million, driven by the reverse takeover of cores and coreboard producer Corenso, which it acquired from Finnish pulp and paper manufacturer Stora Enso Oyj in an EUR81 million deal last year.
Still, on a like-for-like basis, which includes Corenso's results from a year earlier, packaging papers revenue was up 2.0% to EUR74.3 million, while coreboard and cores revenue rose 8.0% to EUR105.4 million. Revenue was pushed higher by better average selling prices, though packaging papers deliver volumes were slightly lower due to shipment delays towards the end of the half.
"I am pleased to report that the group has performed strongly during the first half of the year. Both Packaging Papers and Coreboard and Cores achieved considerable improvements on their prior year performances and the integration of the recently acquired Corenso businesses is progressing in line with our expectations," said Dermot Smurfit, Powerflute's chairman.
"While the second half will be impacted by planned annual maintenance shutdowns in several of the paper and coreboard mills during which we will complete a number of major projects and upgrades that are not without operational risk, in the absence of any material production challenges or any significant change in market conditions, we expect the strong underlying performance of the group to continue for the remainder of the year," Smurfit added.
Shares in Powerflute were up 6.0% to 80.55 pence on Tuesday morning, one of the best performers in the AIM All-Share.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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