Aspo - Company Announcement

ASPO'S ESL SHIPPING CANCELS SHIP ORDER

ASPO Plc  STOCK EXCHANGE BULLETIN  October 15, 2009 at 4:45 p.m.

ESL Shipping Ltd, part of Aspo Group, has decided to terminate one of
the two shipbuilding contracts it has signed with an India-based
shipyard. The first ship has been delayed and is estimated to be
completed in spring 2010. The vessel has been leased to ESL Shipping
under a leasing contract. The second vessel has been substantially
delayed and as a result of this delay ESL Shipping has decided to
enforce its right of termination pursuant to the shipbuilding
contract.

Cancelling the ship will have an impact on the dissolution of
currency hedging of future payment installments, and capital asset
items recorded in the company's balance sheet. As a result of these
measures, the company will record exchange rate losses. For the
return of advance payments, ESL Shipping will receive a positive cash
flow of about EUR 9 million and interest income.

ESL Shipping estimates that the compensation for the delay of the
first ship and the termination of the second ship order will not have
a significant total impact on the company's result. The impacts are
expected to be realized at the end of 2009 and at the beginning of
2010."The ships were ordered in 2006 and after that the new building
market has changed considerably. Now is the right time to consider
the alternatives and to reinforce the cargo capacity and
competitiveness of the fleet of ESL Shipping," says Aki Ojanen, CEO
of Aspo Plc.

ESL Shipping is a dry bulk shipping company operating in the Baltic
Sea area. Its main clients include the energy, steel and chemical
industries. The ESL Shipping fleet includes a total of 16 units.

ASPO Plc

Aki Ojanen
CEO

For more information, please contact:

CEO Aki Ojanen, Aspo Plc, +358 9 521 4010, +358 400 106 592
aki.ojanen@aspo.fi

Markus Karjalainen, CEO, ESL Shipping Ltd, +358 400 888 020
markus.karjalainen@eslshipping.com

DISTRIBUTION:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Key media
www.aspo.fi

Aspo is a conglomerate that owns and develops business operations in
the Baltic Sea region focusing on demanding B-to-B customers. Our
strong company brands - ESL Shipping, Leipurin, Telko and
Kaukomarkkinat - aim to be the market leaders in their sectors. They
are responsible for their own operations, customer relationships and
the development of these. Together they generate Aspo's goodwill.
Aspo's Group structure and business operations are continually
developed without any predefined schedules.