Sales of sawn timber by the "Wood" division within the Swedish company Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) in the second quarter fell just short of the previous year's figure at 697,000 m³. Earnings development was also held back by higher roundwood costs. However, the decline in sales volumes and the increase in costs were more than offset by higher sales prices.
According to SCA's latest quarterly report, the Wood Division's EBITDA and operating result increased by 49% to SEK230m and 79% to SEK177m, respectively, in the second quarter. As a result, the EBITDA and operating profit margins increased by three percentage points to 12.5 % and 9.6 %, respectively. Sales of SEK1.846bn were 13% higher than in the previous year.
Sales of the Forest Business Group fell by 4% to SEK1.162bn in the quarter under review. EBITDA and operating profit increased by 2% to SEK371m and SEK343m respectively. The margin increased by two percentage points to 31.9 % and 29.5 %, respectively. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, higher trunk and industrial wood prices led to the improvement in earnings. The lower sales are due to lower deliveries of logs to the pulp mill Östrand, which had stopped production in connection with the expansion of production capacities for about ten weeks. The conversion work at the pulp mill was completed at the end of June.
Sales for the Group as a whole rose by 11% to SEK4.670bn. EBITDA and operating profit improved by 25% to SEK1.034bn and 65% to SEK744m, respectively. Profit for the period almost quadrupled to SEK1.109bn.