Fiskars - Company Announcement

Fiskars to reorganize its businesses in Europe and Asia-Pacific

Fiskars Corporation       Stock Exchange Release    Sept 12, 2014 at 10:00 EET.

Fiskars plans to increase agility and to simplify decision-making by adopting a
business region -based organization. Establishing business regions and
reorganizing the Group's businesses in Europe and Asia-Pacific is another step
in the company's transformation into a world-class consumer goods company and a
part of the company's ongoing EMEA 2015 restructuring program, which aims to
improve the company's competitiveness and cost structures. The aim is that the
proposed new organization would come into effect as of December 1, 2014. 

In the proposed new organization, Fiskars two geographic reporting segments,
Europe & Asia-Pacific and Americas, would consist of four business regions:
Europe, Asia-Pacific, Fiskars Americas and Gerber Americas. Business region
presidents would become members of the Group's Executive Board. The plan is to
consolidate the current European sales regions North and Central into one sales
organization within the business region Europe. In conjunction with this, the
aim is to re-group European product categories in the Garden and Home business
areas into new business units Living Products and Functional Products. 

 The goal of Fiskars proposed new organization is to simplify decision-making
and ensure an efficient operating model by minimizing overlapping tasks. The
plans to combine functions are expected to lead to a reduction in current
business area and support function personnel in Finland. In addition, Fiskars
intends to adapt its sales unit in Finland to the structural changes in Finnish
retail landscape. Accordingly, Fiskars will initiate an employee consultation
process covering altogether 347 employees in Finland. The reduction of
employees is estimated to total a maximum of 60 people. Personnel reductions
are not expected to take place among production workers at the company's
factories or among personnel at the company's own retail stores in Finland. 

 “Moving into a business-region based organization is a natural continuation in
Fiskars evolution. By simplifying our way of working we want to take the next
step in our transformation in Europe. Our aim is to re-allocate resources into
fuelling growth in the Group's strategic focus areas Asia-Pacific and Central
and Eastern Europe while also ensuring the continued strength of our Nordic and
North American home markets. The creation of a new business unit Functional
Products will further enable us to consolidate our investments in the
international expansion of the Fiskars brand.” says Kari Kauniskangas, Fiskars
President and CEO. “The success of our brand portfolio is made possible by
consistently improving our competitiveness and maintaining agility to respond
to the changing international marketplace. It is regretful that these plans may
affect our employees and we will do our utmost to find solutions that minimize
the impact.” 

Business regions

In the proposed new organization, business regions will be responsible for
sales and profitability. The plan is to consolidate regional supply chain and
support functions into the new business region Europe. Thomas Enckell,
currently the President of Fiskars Garden business in Europe, has been
appointed to lead the planning of the business region Europe. Matteo Gaeta
would continue as President of business region Asia-Pacific (currently sales
region Asia-Pacific), Paul Tonnesen as President of business region Fiskars
Americas (currently business areas Garden and SOC Americas) and Rob Kass asPresident of business region Gerber Americas (currently business area Outdoor
Americas). 

Business units Living Products and Functional Products

The other dimension of Fiskars new organization proposal in Europe and
Asia-Pacific are focused business units, which continue to be responsible for
the brands and the offering. Business unit Living Products, headed by Päivi
Paltola-Pekkola, would continue to focus on leading Scandinavian design under
the brands Iittala, Royal Copenhagen, Arabia and Rörstrand. 

In the organizational proposal, Fiskars plans to combine the European Garden
and Kitchen categories into a common business unit called Functional Products,
which will offer tools in and around the house under the brands Fiskars,
Hackman, Leborgne, EbertSankey and a number of local brands. The new business
unit will strengthen focus on the Fiskars brand and enable synergies between
categories with similar business logic and distribution channels. Pekka Salmi,
currently Vice President of Fiskars Garden & Yard care business unit in Europe,
has been appointed to lead the planning of the Functional Products business
unit. 



FISKARS CORPORATION


Kari Kauniskangas
President & CEO

Further Information:
Anu Ilvonen, Director, Corporate Communications, tel. +358 204 39 5446


Fiskars 365 - celebrating centuries of pride, passion and design. Every day.

Established in 1649 as an ironworks in a small Finnish village, Fiskars has
grown to be a leading global supplier of consumer products for the home, garden
and outdoors. Available in more than 60 countries, Fiskars products solve
everyday problems, making daily home, garden and outdoor projects easier and
more enjoyable through superior performance and design. Fiskars is listed on
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, and the company's net sales were 799 million euro in 2013.
The Group's key international brands are Fiskars, Iittala and Gerber.
www.fiskarsgroup.com/365

Attachments:

20140912 Europe Asia-Pacific_eng.pdf