5th Feb 2008 08:00
Powerflute Oyj05 February 2008 5 February 2008 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN POWERFLUTE OYJ COMMENCEMENT OF DEALINGS ON FIRST NORTH LIST Powerflute Oyj (the "Company" or "Powerflute"), which operates a paper mill inFinland and manufactures high quality nordic semi-chem fluting, is pleased toannounce that its shares have been admitted to trading on the First NorthFinland list of First North Nordic ("First North"). First North is thealternative marketplace operated by OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm AB within theOMX group. The Shares in Powerflute are traded on AIM operated by London Stock Exchangeplc. The Company's secondary listing on First North Nordic is to facilitatetrading in Powerflute Shares for investors in Finland and Sweden. No offer ofShares or other securities of the Company takes place in connection with thelisting on First North. Dealings in the shares commence today at 10:15 a.m.(Helsinki time) under the ticker symbol POW1V. Ohman J:or Fondkommission AB is acting as Certified Adviser to Powerflute inconnection with the trading of the Shares on First North. Collins Stewart EuropeLimited is Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Company for the London AIMmarket. Dermot Smurfit, Chairman of Powerflute said: "We are delighted that our listing on First North has been completedsuccessfully. First North is an exciting opportunity to attract liquidity fromFinland and Sweden, where we and the paper industry in general have strongfollowings." Ends For additional information please contact: Ohman +358 (9)8866 6021 Vesa Heikkila Collins Stewart +44 (0)20 7523 8350 Nick Ellis Philip Roe Financial Dynamics Billy Clegg +44 (0)20 7269 7157 Georgina Bonham +44 (0)20 7269 7262 Background Information About Powerflute Powerflute is a holding company and, through its wholly-owned subsidiary SavonSellu Oy, operates a 300,000 tonne per annum rated capacity paper mill which isalso called "Savon Sellu". The Mill is located near Kuopio, Finland on theshores of Lake Kallavesi and manufactures a specialised high quality grade ofsemi-chem fluting called nordic semi-chem fluting which is made primarily frombirch wood sourced from Finland and Russia. In accordance with its strategy, theCompany may in the future also acquire and manage complementary companies orassets related to paper and packaging or other forestry derivatives. The Group's key customers comprise corrugated board and packaging manufacturersincluding International Paper Company and Smurfit Kappa Group. The majority ofthe Group's sales are in Western Europe. For the financial period ended 31December 2006 the Group's turnover was €98.3 million and the profit before taxwas €5.4 million. EBITDA for the financial periods ended 31 December 2005 and2006 was €3.7 million and €12.4 million respectively. The Company has publishedon 10 January 2008 a pre-close trading update according to which the EBITDA forthe financial period ended 31 December 2007 on ordinary activities will growapproximately 60 per cent above the EBITDA achieved in the financial periodended 2006. About First North: First North is an alternative market place which does not have the status of aregulated market as defined in EU financial regulation (the Markets in FinancialInstruments Directive 2004/39/EC, "MiFID"). First North is a multilateraltrading facility ("MTF") under Swedish law operated by OMX Nordic ExchangeStockholm AB. According to MiFID, a stock exchange or an investment firm canoperate an MTF on which the issuers do not have to comply with all requirementsand obligations of the regulated market. Instead, the issuers on First North aresubject to the obligations set out in the Rules. First North as an MTF brings together multiple third-party buying and sellinginterests in financial instruments providing, thus, an infrastructure fortrading of shares and other instruments. Furthermore, each company admitted totrading shall engage a Certified Adviser. The Certified Adviser, in turn, has anagreement with the OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm AB pursuant to which theCertified Adviser ensures, inter alia, that the company meets the admissionrequirements and the continuous disclosure obligations pursuant to the Rules.Furthermore, the Certified Adviser shall monitor the company's compliance withthe Rules and immediately report to the Exchange if, in its opinion, the companycould be in breach of the Rules. First North is a platform designed for new, developing companies for which theentrance to the equity markets has been facilitated by the lesser admissionrequirements. The more modest regulation of First North also implies, however,the higher risks of the investments. Although being one single market, FirstNorth is operated under the licensees of different regional exchanges within theOMX Corporation. Thus, First North Finland and First North Sweden are operatedby OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm AB, First North Denmark by OMX Nordic ExchangeCopenhagen A/S and First North Iceland by Nordic Exchange Iceland hf. Becausethe markets are operated under national jurisdictions, different requirementsmay apply based on national laws. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
POWR.L