Stora Enso Oyj - Company Announcement

Stora Enso CEO Jouko Karvinen and CFO Karl-Henrik Sundström comment on third quarter 2012 results announced today

“Stable performance in weak Europe, transforming the Group to value-creating
growth” 

Helsinki, Finland, 2012-10-23 12:01 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STORA ENSO OYJ
STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 23 October 2012 at 13.01 EET 

CEO Jouko Karvinen comments on the third quarter and company transformation:

“We finished the third quarter as we promised, and a little more. Markets
overall varied from weak in Europe in printing and reading and wood products,
to a mixed picture in renewable packaging. We finished the quarter at the upper
end of our earnings expectations, and most important kept the cash generation
rock solid as demonstrated by the improved quarter-end liquidity of EUR 1.7
billion,” says CEO Jouko Karvinen. 

“This is a path we must continue to move on with accelerating speed. Today's
announcements of new profitability action plans across all businesses will be
difficult for our people, but also a prerequisite for implementing our
transformation in a responsible way. The weak performance of Building and
Living is clear evidence that we have much more to do. 

“The growth investments at Skoghall, Ostrołęka and Montes del Plata are
reaching their final months and quarters of completion - living proof points of
the transformation of Stora Enso into a value-creating renewable materials
growth company. In parallel, we continue the planning for our China investment,
as we do planning integration of our new joint venture in Pakistan.” 

Stora Enso's new CFO Karl-Henrik Sundström comments on continuous improvement,
speed of execution and risk mitigation: 

“We want to be masters of our own destiny and therefore plan to take capacity
action in media-driven European paper markets with overcapacity and a
structural and cyclical decline of around 6% annually right now, and 4-6% in
the coming years. We cannot afford to wait for a transformation in our markets,
we need to act as we have done previously. 

“We have maintained strong cash generation and secured all of our short-term
maturities through a number of bond transactions. We have today a robust
liquidity position and have covered all of our maturities until the end of
2014. In addition, we have today announced plans to further reduce costs and
improve productivity, partly in response to the weak and uncertain economic
growth in Europe. This is prudent as well as responsible. 

“The profitability improvement action plans will not be easy since they will
affect a number of businesses that have been impacted before, and will
intensify some of the issues in this very hard hit European industry. To
transform our company, we must redirect the deep knowledge we have in
production and development to products and markets that will offer
value-creating growth. This will not be an overnight process but the essence of
our ongoing journey. 

“As a company we are fortunate to have created a stable cash generating
business in Europe, which we will use to finance the transformation our
business. The most important task for us is to ensure that for years to come we
continue to have the best cash engines in Europe, which means de-risking our
transformation by a cost-efficient and profitable Printing and Reading business
in Europe, a very efficient balance sheet and ample liquidity.” 


For further information, please contact:
Jouko Karvinen, CEO, tel. +358 2046 21410
Karl-Henrik Sundström, CFO, tel.+46 1046 71660
Lauri Peltola, EVP, Global Identity, tel. +358 2046 21380
Ulla Paajanen-Sainio, SVP, Investor Relations, tel. +358 2046 21242

www.storaenso.com
www.storaenso.com/investors

Stora Enso is the global rethinker of the paper, biomaterials, wood product and
packaging industry. We always rethink the old and expand to the new to offer
our customers innovative solutions based on renewable materials. Stora Enso
employs some 30 000 people worldwide, and our sales in 2011 amounted to EUR
11.0 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (STEAV,
STERV) and Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the
USA as ADRs (SEOAY) in the International OTCQX over-the-counter market. 


STORA ENSO OYJ