Strong recovery in UPM's operating profit, Operating profit for the second half of the year expected to improve from the first half
Interim Report for January-June 2010: Q2/2010: Earnings per share were EUR 0.33 (-0.02), excluding special items EUR 0.29 (0.03). Operating profit excluding special items was EUR 199 million (EUR 31 million). Delivery volumes increased in all businesses - sales grew by 20%. Sales prices started to increase following increasing demand. Q1-Q2/2010: Earnings per share were EUR 0.46 (-0.32), excluding special items EUR 0.44 (-0.24). Operating profit excluding special items was EUR 315 million (loss of EUR 47 million). Operating cash flow was EUR 311 million (EUR 580 million). Sales increased as economic activity improved.
UPM and Wallpaper* magazine's Handmade partnership
UPM and leading design bible Wallpaper* magazine have collaborated on an innovative project for the magazine's August issue. Hailed as its most ambitious issue to date, the magazine has been produced with no less than eight UPM paper grades with 21,000 subscriber generated digital covers on UPM Digi Finesse.
The Wallpaper* Handmade issue features unique designs for furniture, fitting, foodstuffs, fashion and much more. From cover to cover, Wallpaper* Handmade is a complete celebration of craftsmanship. Through working closely UPM, the issue also includes an A5 sketchbook documenting how several of the designs evolved. There is even a paper house to cut out and assemble, courtesy of architect Ryuji Nakamura.
UPM signs landmark conservation easement agreement in Minnesota, USA
UPM has sold to the State of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources a conservation easement on 187,876 acres (76,000 hectares) of UPM-owned forest land in Northern Minnesota. UPM will receive USD 44 million (approximately EUR 36 million) for the easement and will record a pre-tax capital gain of USD 42 million (approximately EUR 34 million) in the Company's third quarter result.
Under the conservation easement, UPM retains ownership of the land and its Blandin paper mill in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, will continue to use it as a working forest.
UPM Raflatac opens distribution terminals in India and Turkey
UPM Raflatac has opened two new slitting and distribution terminals, in Istanbul, Turkey and Bangalore, India. The new terminals will supply local labelling markets with high-quality film and paper labelstock. The Bangalore terminal complements UPM Raflatac's already substantial Southeast Asian and South Asian logistics network, comprising a labelstock factory in Johor, Malaysia and terminals in Jakarta in Indonesia, Bangkok, Thailand and Mumbai, India. The Istanbul terminal answers growing demand for UPM Raflatac label materials in Turkey, and is in line with the company's strategy of gradually expanding its market share in this rapidly growing region.
UPM wants to increase versatile low-emission energy production
UPM's Senior Vice President for Energy Anja Silvennoinen is satisfied with the Finnish Parliament's positive decision concerning Teollisuuden Voima's (TVO) Olkiluoto 4 nuclear power unit. The Parliament's decision opens up the possibility to increase the share of low-emission and cost efficient electricity, but requires significant financial investments and commitment from the companies receiving the permits and their shareholders. "UPM is committed to increase its low-emission energy production and wants to do it in a versatile way. In addition to nuclear power, hydropower and renewable forest energy are very important energy sources for us," says Silvennoinen.
UPM's timber and plywood products used in an innovative zero energy house
UPM is partnering with the Finnish Aalto University to create a zero energy house for the Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 competition. The competition takes place in Madrid from 18 to 27 June 2010, where the building will be open to the public. Following the competition, the house will be moved to the Holiday Housing Fair 2011 in Mäntyharju, Finland. The wooden cladding of the building is using UPM Facade, a slow grown,live-knotted homogenous whitewood, and UPM's timber products are used in the roof and floor structures. The roof sub-structure is made of WISA®-Roof plywood panels. WISA-Spruce plywood is being used for the load bearing insulation elements and other plywood products in the exhibition. It will also be used during installation and for transport solutions.
Dasos to acquire a forest property from UPM in Finland
Dasos Timberland Fund I has entered into an agreement to acquire a 5,747-hectare forest property from UPM in the Savo region of Finland. Through the acquisition Dasos and UPM will become significant partners in the Savo region. The arrangement includes a contract for long-term wood sales as well as for forest management services.
Dasos only invests in certified or certifiable forests. The forest property acquired from UPM is certified and has been sustainably managed by UPM's forest professionals over the years. Dasos looks forward to cooperation with UPM while supporting the Dasos goal of long-term, stable yield for investors and using wood in new end-use areas, including biofuels.
UPM's wooden design hotel to be built in Mikkeli this summer
UPM and the City of Mikkeli have agreed on building the winning entry of last years' wooden design competition organised by UPM in the Mikkelipuisto Park by the Lake Saimaa. The City of Mikkeli is planning to use the spectacular wooden concept hotel in connection with various media events, exhibitions and visits. Furthermore, the City of Mikkeli will be launching a wood construction programme that will focus on the promotion of wood construction and sustainable development in Mikkeli.
UPM's tree nursery in Joroinen celebrates its 30th anniversary
UPM's tree nursery in Joroinen, Finland, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The tree nursery will keep an open house for visitors between 29 July and 1 August from 10 am to 4 pm daily.
Founded in 1980, UPM's tree nursery annually produces 14 to 15 million spruce seedlings and forest planting material for the company's own forests and its customers. UPM's tree nursery produces healthy, high-quality tree seedlings suitable for different areas. All plants are of Finnish origin.
UPM starts environmental impact assessment for a biofuels plant in Lappeenranta, Finland
UPM is starting an official procedure for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a biofuels plant in Lappeenranta, Finland. UPM is planning to build a biofuels plant at the Kaukas mill site in Lappeenranta. In the first phase the plant will serve mainly as a test and training facility. The main end products of the biofuels plant would be second generation biodiesel, bio gasoline, kerosene and naphtha. Raw materials used would be liquid bio-based organic compounds, like fats oils and forest industry by-products. The applicability of different raw materials for the biofuels production will be tested at the biofuels plant.
UPM plants trees together with children and stakeholders
UPM has invited schoolchildren and other stakeholders to plant trees as part of the company's annual tree planting day. UPM's tree planting day, which was organised for the first time last year, takes place on May 21 in most locations. This year, the company organises tree planting day events in Finland, Russia, UK, USA and Uruguay.
At the events, stakeholders are taken to the forest, where they are guided by UPM's forestry specialists.
Lufthansa successfully speeds up aircraft maintenance with UPM Raflatac's RFID tags
Lufthansa Technik, a global provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, has been successfully using RFID technology in tracking aircraft components for the past two years. Lufthansa Technik Logistik (LTL), the logistics service provider of LHT, was one of the first companies to use RFID technology in aviation.
Since 2008, LTL has been attaching RFID tags to documents accompanying components as they are removed, serviced or repaired, and reinstalled. The use of RFID technology has significantly expedited the repair-cycle process for components by reducing or eliminating the need for manual data entry. With the help of RFID tracking, LTL is also avoiding delivery errors, and automatically verifying the authenticity of parts.
UPM's Otepää plywood mill celebrates 10 th anniversary
UPM's Otepää Plywood Mill celebrated its 10th anniversary on Wednesday, May 12, 2010. Otepää is the only plywood mill in Estonia and the second largest plywood maker in the Baltic Countries.
Otepää manufactures birch plywood from local raw material. In addition to standard plywood, the mill further processes top quality WISA plywood for use in transport and furniture industries and construction, among others. 90% of the mills production goes to exports, primarily to Europe. The mill has an important role in UPM's plywood business both product-wise and logistically.
Inauguration of Finland's largest biomass user
Today, the inauguration ceremony took place for Kaukaan Voima Oy's biomass power plant, which was constructed as a joint project by Pohjolan Voima, Lappeenrannan Energia and UPM.
The power plant is fueled by bark, branches, tops, stumps, small wood and peat. The power plant is Finland's largest user of solid biomass, ie. Wood which cannot be used as raw material for higher-grade processes. The plant's annual fuel consumption is around 2 000 GWh, which means about 20 000 truck loads. The plant's thermal power is 385 MW. Its electricity generation capacity is 125 MW.
New business to start at UPM's former further processing mill in Parkano
UPM has signed a preliminary contract for selling the real estate of its former further processing mill in Parkano, Finland. The premises are to be taken over by a wood processing company to be established by the mill's former local management.
Recovering demand and good cost performance improved UPM's operating profit
- Sales increased by 10 %
- Operating profit excluding special items was EUR 116 million (loss of EUR 78 million)
- Operating cash flow was EUR 209 million (EUR 274 million)
- Positive development in delivery volumes in all businesses
- sales grew by 10%
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UPM's wood plastic composite clads the Finnish pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai
The environmentally innovative wood plastic composite UPM ProFi gives a visually unique marble white façade to the Finnish Pavilion 'Giant´s Kettle' at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The 3,700-square-metre surface of the Pavilion is clad in 25,000 modern shingles especially designed for the project by Teemu Kurkela, a Finnish architect from the Helsinki-based JKMM Architects.
The architectural concept of the Giant's Kettle offers a stylish implementation of the Shanghai Expo's main theme 'Better City, Better Life': Increasing the quality of life while decreasing the burden on the environment. UPM ProFi fulfils the task perfectly. The main raw material ingredients of this wood plastic composite are recycled paper and plastic which fall as surplus by-products in UPM's self adhesive label production.
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