METSÄ BOARD Annual review 2024
Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Key figures
Business operations and value creation 2 This is Metsä Board 4 CEO’s review 6
2024
2023
2021
Sales, EUR million EBITDA, EUR million
1,938.6
1,941.9
2,479.6
Metsä Board’s business Metsä Board produces recyclable premium fresh fibre paperboards and is Europe’s largest producer of folding boxboard and white kraftliners. The company’s folding boxboard is mainly used to package consumer products such as food and pharmaceuticals, while its white kraftliners are mainly used for various packaging needs in the retail sector. Metsä Board’s main market areas are Europe and North America. The company also produces chemical pulp and bleached high-yield pulp (BCTMP), which are used in its own paperboard production, with some sold as market pulp. Metsä Board owns 24.9% of its associated company Metsä Fibre, a global leader in the production of long-fibre market pulp. In 2024, Metsä Board’s total paperboard capacity was around 2.3 million tonnes, and its pulp and BCTMP capacity was 1.7 million tonnes. The company covers its energy consumption with its own production and supplementary purchases from the market. Most of the electricity consumption is covered by the company’s own production and by electricity purchased from Pohjolan Voima and Metsä Fibre. Metsä Board has a 2.6% holding in Pohjolan Voima, from which it purchases electricity at cost price. Strategy and financial targets According to its strategy, Metsä Board aims to grow in fibre-based packaging materials and renew its industrial operations. The company implements its strategic programmes, including growth and development investments, to improve the mills’ production and resource efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of products. Metsä Board’s production is located near the most important raw material, high-quality northern fibre. The company’s high self-sufficiency in pulp and energy offers a competitive advantage. Metsä Board’s decision-making is guided by financial and sustainability targets. The company focuses on the continuous improvement of cost-effectiveness and on customer accounts which benefit from the high performance of the company’s products and services. The objective is to distribute a competitive dividend and retain a strong balance sheet. Financial targets and dividend policy Metsä Board aims for a comparable return on capital employed of at least 12%. In 2024, the realisation was 3.2% (2023: 5.1%) Another target is for the ratio of interest-bearing net liabilities to comparable EBITDA (rolling 12 months) to be a maximum of 2.5. In 2024, the actual value was 2.0 (2023: 0.7). In 2024, Metsä Board revised the company’s dividend policy. According to the new dividend policy, Metsä Board aims to distribute a dividend of at least half the result for the financial period over time, taking the company’s
future investment and development needs into account. According to the previous dividend policy, Metsä Board aimed to distribute at least 50% of the result for the financial period in dividends every year. For 2024, the Board of Directors proposes a dividend of EUR 0.07 per share, correspond- ing to 98% of the result for the financial period. (2023: EUR 0.25 per share, 94% of the result) Business environment Paperboards Population growth, urbanisation and replacing plastic are global trends that will increase demand for fibre-based packaging in the long term. Consumer preferences favour fossil-free packaging materials, and several brand owners are committed to ambitious targets to reduce plastic use in their packaging. Premium fresh fibre paperboards are lightweight and fully recyclable, making them a very suitable match for the EU’s more stringent regulation. The carbon footprint of material-efficient fresh fibre paper- boards mainly produced with fossil-free energy is also smaller than that of many other packaging materials. In the first half of 2024, demand for paperboards picked up from the record-low level of 2023 caused by considerable inventory adjustments in the value chain. However, growth subsided towards the end of the year. Slowing inflation and decreasing interest rates have boosted consumers’ purchasing power to some extent, but consumers remain cautious in their purchase decisions. In addition, consumption focuses on products rather than services. The folding boxboard market has been shaken by strong growth in Asian paperboard capacity and the resulting increase in paperboard imports, especially to the EMEA region and South America. In 2024, European folding boxboard producers’ deliveries to Europe increased from the previous year. Meanwhile, the deliveries of white kraft- liners remained stable. The market prices of white kraftliners were stable, while those of folding boxboard declined from the previous year. Metsä Board accounted for 32% (32) of the overall deliveries of Euro- pean folding boxboard producers and for 55% (50) of exports from Europe. At the end of 2024, Metsä Board accounted for 38% of folding boxboard production capacity and for 33% of white kraftliner production capacity in Europe. (Sources: Fastmarkets FOEX, Fastmarkets RISI, Pro Carton, Cepi Containerboard, websites of benchmark companies) Market pulp Metsä Board and its associated company Metsä Fibre sell mainly long-fibre market pulp to Europe and Asia. Demand for market pulp in Europe was stronger in the first half of the year than in the second. In China, demand for market pulp was at the nor- mal level in early and late 2024, but at a near standstill from the summer to
175.9 175.0
214.6 216.0
614.6 602.8
comparable, EUR million
Strategy and financial targets
EBITDA, % of sales
9.1 9.0
11.1 11.1
24.8 24.3
comparable, % of sales
8
Value creation
Operating result, EUR million comparable, EUR million Operating result, % of sales comparable, % of sales Result before taxes, EUR million
62.3 69.0
120.8 122.2
531.5 520.7
Financial development 10 Key figures 12
3.2 3.6
6.2 6.3
21.4 21.0
51.4 58.2 39.4 44.6 0.07
120.9 122.6 101.6 103.8
524.9 514.6 461.3 451.4
Report of the Board of Directors
comparable, EUR million
Result for the period, EUR million
20 20 37 70 89 96
• Sustainability statement
comparable, EUR million Earnings per share, EUR
General information
0.27
1.15
E – Environment
comparable, EUR
0.09
0.27
1.13
S – Social responsibility
Return on equity, %
2.0 2.3 2.9 3.2
4.7 4.8 5.0 5.1
22.5 22.0 21.4 20.9
comparable, %
G – Governance
Return on capital employed, %
Annexes to the Sustainability statement
comparable, % Equity ratio 1) , % Net gearing 1) , %
64 18
67
66
98 Consolidated financial statements 102 Notes to the consolidated financial statements 150 Parent company financial statements 153 Notes to the parent company financial statements 166 The Board’s proposal to the Annual General Meeting for the distribution of funds 167 Auditor’s Report 171 Sustainability statement assurance report 173 Shares and shareholders 177 Ten years in figures 178 Taxes 179 Production capacities 181 Calculation of key ratios and comparable performance measures Corporate governance 183 Corporate governance statement 190 • Board of Directors of Metsä Board 194 • Corporate Management Team of Metsä Board
7
4
Interest-bearing net liabilities/comparable EBITDA Shareholders’ equity per share 1) , EUR Interest-bearing net liabilities 1) , EUR million
2.0
0.7
0.2
4.91
5.35
5.86 94.5
344.9 175.4
144.0 228.7 342.8 2,240
Total investment, EUR million
304.1 232.0 2,248
Net cash flow from operations, EUR million
37.8
Personnel 1)
2,290
at the end of the period
1)
Delivery and production volumes
1,000 tonnes
2024
2023
2021
Delivery volumes
Folding boxboard White kraftliner
992 480 400 618
906 467 394 684
1,208
609 503
Metsä Board’s market pulp 1) Metsä Fibre’s market pulp 2)
717
Production volumes Folding boxboard
1,044
859
1,272
White kraftliner
484
450
605
Metsä Board’s pulp 1) Metsä Fibre’s pulp 2)
1,123
996 685
1,409
652
731
1) Includes chemical pulp and high-yield pulp (BCTMP). 2) Equal to Metsä Board’s 24.9% holding in Metsä Fibre.
196 Remuneration report 201 Investor relations and investor information
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Report of the Board of Directors | METSÄ BOARD ANNUAL REVIEW 2024
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