Moelven's operating result for the third quarter showed a loss of NOK 28 million, compared with a loss of NOK 14 million in the same period last year.

Operating revenues in the third quarter were NOK 1,883 million, compared with NOK 1,808 million in the third quarter of last year.

The weak result is due to costs in connection with the commissioning of new production plant, project evaluation and a competitive situation in certain market segments that continues to be challenging. Measured against the same quarter last year, the improved results for the Timber division, Moelven Elektro AS and the building furnishing companies only partly compensate for weaker results in the Wood building products division, the laminated timber companies and the building module operation in Sweden. The quarter's result after interest and tax was minus NOK 26 million, against minus NOK 29 million in the same period last year.

Profit-generating measures

During the course of the quarter, the group's activities have been reviewed and a number of measures have been identified and are being closely followed up, in order to improve results in ongoing operations and reduce the risk of losses in connection with individual projects. A project to liberate working capital has also been initiated.

"We also have a period with many investment projects behind us. This means that we can reduce investment levels considerably over the coming months and concentrate fully on effective operation. I expect the sum of these measures to give us better results," says CEO Hans Rindal.

Improvement for the sawmills

"The market balance for Timber's sawmills is improving. Demand has marginally improved in certain markets, while production and storage levels of industrial timber have reduced," says Rindal. 

This, combined with changing currency conditions, has led to better earnings for the sawmills.

"At the same time, we can see that access to raw materials for our timber-consuming units and sales opportunities for chip products have been satisfactory, and the adaptations that were made after the closure of Södra Cell Tofte have worked as intended," says Rindal.

Prospects

The Building Systems division has a satisfactory order book, with a better composition than at the same time last year. Continued improvement is anticipated in the international price situation for industrial timber in the fourth quarter. No great changes are expected in Scandinavia other than the normal seasonal changes in the market for building products.

Overall the Board expects that the group's operating result for the fourth quarter will be stronger than the corresponding period last year, while the year as a whole will be considerably weaker than 2012.