Stora Enso has published its Q4/2023 report, and its full year 2023 report.
Group sales decreased year-on-year by 24% to 2.2 billion euro, with low demand leading to reduced deliveries and lower sales prices across all divisions, except for the Forest division.
Stora Enso expects market conditions to remain uncertain in 2024, with ongoing pressure on demand, prices and margins. However, there are some positive signs such as increasing pulp prices, declining global pulp inventories, less customer destocking, and lower inflation and interest rates.
Stora Enso’s President and CEO Hans Sohlström comments on the fourth quarter 2023 results:
“In a world being rapidly reshaped, we must adapt, streamline, and develop our business to meet the evolving needs of our customers. We have faced unprecedented market conditions and focus our efforts on what we can control to improve our competitiveness and prepare for an uncertain future.
“Stora Enso’s financial performance in the fourth quarter of last year was affected by continued market headwinds. This especially impacted our Packaging and Wood Products businesses”.
“To remain competitive and drive growth, Stora Enso will launch a profit improvement programme targeting an annualised 80 million euro improvement of our operational EBIT. This could lead to a potential reduction of approximately 1,000 employees. The employee reductions, efficiency improvements and synergy opportunities would impact all divisions and Group functions. The majority of these savings would materialise in 2025”.