Stora Enso Oyj - Company Announcement

Stora Enso CEO Jouko Karvinen and the new Stora Enso CEO as of 1 August Karl-Henrik Sundström comment on the second quarter of 2014 and the short-term priorities

“Strong quarterly performance - the transformation journey continues”

Helsinki, Finland, 2014-07-21 12:01 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STORA ENSO OYJ
STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 21 July 2014 at 13.01 EET 

Jouko Karvinen, Stora Enso CEO until 31 July 2014, comments:

“The second quarter came out at the high end of our expectations, essentially
driven by the better than expected performance of Renewable Packaging and by
the Company's 22% overachievement of the EUR 200 million annual structural cost
reduction target. Those achievements combined with the significant improvements
in earnings in Printing and Reading and in Building and Living are yet another
proof point of the resilience and fighting spirit of the Stora Enso people. As
regards Biomaterials, I am happy to see that the ramp-up of Montes del Plata is
at, if not beyond, the industry standards. 

As this is my last quarterly report after seven years at the helm of the
Company, I also want to say a sincere thank you to all our stakeholders for the
seven challenging but also rewarding years. So much more remains to be done,
but I am confident the same strong interest and support that I have experienced
will continue for Stora Enso and its new CEO Karl-Henrik Sundström in
transforming Stora Enso into a global renewable materials company.

Finally let me say that I am very happy to hand over the CEO role to
Karl-Henrik Sundström. In his two years with the Company he has demonstrated
business acumen, strategic thinking and people focus. I am confident that with
the great people of Stora Enso, he will do well on the journey to the future.” 


Karl-Henrik Sundström, Stora Enso CEO from 1 August 2014:

“I am very honoured to have been trusted to lead Stora Enso. It is exciting to
continue on the chosen path and build the future of the Company together with
our competent and committed employees. One of my short-term priorities is to
build a winning team which can take us forward. Due to the strategic importance
of sustainability issues, I will also put more resources into the corporate
responsibility area. Currently, I am deepening my knowledge of Stora Enso's
packaging and biomaterials offering, as this business is partly new to me. 

Stora Enso's transformation into a company with increased customer focus goes
on. We will continue to deliver value through the Montes del Plata Pulp Mill in
Uruguay and our consumer board machine investment in Guangxi, China. The
acquisition of the biotechnology company Virdia and the conversion of the
Varkaus Mill fine paper machine in Finland to produce virgin-fibre-based
containerboard are yet further examples. It is all about winning, together with
our customers, today and tomorrow.” 


For further information, please contact:
Jouko Karvinen, CEO until 31 July 2014, tel. +358 2046 21410
Karl-Henrik Sundström, CEO as of 1 August 2014, tel. +46 1046 71660

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

Stora Enso is the global rethinker of the paper, biomaterials, wood products
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 29 000 people worldwide, and our sales in 2013 amounted to
EUR 10.6 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