Mondi Announces Price Increase on Uncoated Fine Papers

Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, announced on 1 December 2020 that it had signed an agreement to sell a 30 percent stake in its Husum pulp mill in Sweden to the Swedish forest owners' cooperative Norra Skog. The transaction was completed on 4 January 2021, and its impacts will be included in Metsä Board's financial reporting as of the January–March 2021 interim report.

Management Summary from Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Michel Ribiéras: In 2024, we earned $632 million in adjusted EBITDA, a 17% margin, and generated $248 million of free cash flow. We returned $130 million in cash to shareowners, representing 52% of free cash flow, exceeding our 40% commitment. We have $82 million remaining on our $150 million share repurchase authorization from September 2023. Our board of directors also declared a first quarter dividend of $0.45 per share, which we paid Jan. 24th. Our strong cash flow and $60 million received from escrow allowed us to pay down $154 million in debt in 2024, ending the year with $591 million in net debt. Our structural cost reduction program, Project Horizon, made significant progress streamlining manufacturing, supply chain and overhead costs throughout 2024. Before inflation, we exceeded our $110 million year end run rate savings goal by $34 million, achieving $144 million in run rate savings. On Dec. 31, we mutually terminated a supply agreement for uncoated freesheet, bristols and specialty papers from International Paper’s Georgetown, South Carolina, mill.

Key highlights: *Strong net sales *Ramp-up at Gruvön (KM7) reached EBITDA break-even *Excellent production quarter with increased operational efficiencies *Net sales grew by 2% to SEK 6 520 million (6 364). Excluding currency effects net sales grew by 5% *Adjusted EBITDA* increased by 27% to SEK 1 003 million (791), mainly due to the ramp-up at Gruvön *Operating profit amounted to SEK 528 million (280) *Net profit was SEK 377 million (164)